Kwesi Kwarteng

Newark Based Artist, Kwesi Kwarteng creates resplendent textile artworks using a diversity of culturally significant fabrics from around the world and canvas, which he dyes by hand, stitches, and reimagines as masterful painterly tapestries. 

Kwarteng’s repertoire of artworks can be characterized by 3 distinguished textile mediums—multi-dimensional sub-sculptures that combine textiles and mesh wire, drape pieces that combine a multitude of textiles that he shapes into fluid, floating fabric arrangements and one he calls, ‘textile paintings” which appear as stretched and framed abstract works. Kwarteng approaches his art practice with an intentionality and regard for the perfect imperfection of his experimental creative expression. His abstract textile works on canvas, the “textile paintings' ' are precise and serve to distill the conversation between the more layered drape and sub-sculptural works. All Kwarteng’s works serve to explore multi-cultural identity, social cohesion, and global interconnectivity which act as counterpoints to the absurdity of racial/migrant tensions and social divisions that persists in the US where Kwarteng lives, and around the world.

In Kwarteng’s works, there is an exploration and reimagining of the practice of the handmade, woven textile traditions of the Akan and Ewe weavers of Ghana. He is equally influenced by El Anatsui’s extraordinary sculptures, twentieth century African American quilting artistry, and abstract, color field paintings by Sam Gilliam among others. He perfectly captures the nuances of using what might be considered a myriad of discarded remnants and swatches to align narratives that reflect his experience growing up in Ghana and moving to the United States as a teenager. Through his early challenges as an immigrant, he learned to embrace the multi-facets of culture and the heterogeneity of the immigrant story in the Bronx, New York, later Newark, NJ. Two of the most culturally diverse cities in the United States.  Kwesi Kwarteng (1988) born in Accra, Ghana and currently lives and works in Newark, New Jersey. He is an alumni of the School of Visual Arts (SVA), New York City. His works are held in private and corporate collections around the world.

www.kwesiokwarteng.com    |  Instagram: kkwarteng_nyc

Krystle Lemonias 

Krystle Lemonias (Jamaican, b. 1989) is a visual artist, labor activist, and art educator, whose work addresses issues of social class, labor rights, and economic inequality, particularly within Black communities. Her pieces have been featured in notable exhibitions, including Yu cyaan ketch Quaku, yu ketch im shut at Andrew Rafacz Gallery, Show Me the Signs at Blum and Poe for the #sayhername campaign, and Unblocked: Improvisation and Identity in Contemporary Quilts at Hunterdon Art Museum. Lemonias employs found materials, fabric, and iconography to probe the complexities of Black immigrant cultural identity and its ties to the broader diaspora. Using repurposed materials and consumer food packaging she also investigates how consumerism impacts our environment and wildlife.

www.krystlelemonias.com     |   Instagram: @empress1989kl

Tamara Torres

Tamara Torres is a Puerto Rican Afro-Latinx feminist storyteller and artist based in Brooklyn, New York. Tamara explores diverse artistic practices that include poetry, landscape abstract paintings known to Torres as "mindscapes," visual chronicle collaged photographs or 3D sculptures, short fictions, and playwriting. 

Her work intricately weaves together themes of light in beats of darkness, an autobiography of rediscovering her electric connections between her identity as an Afro-Caribeña and lineage, societal tantrums, feminism, and the essence of human connection and body. Each piece acts as a catalyst for conversation, igniting thought and fostering a deeper exploration of the complex intersections between identity and experience.

Believing in the power of art to challenge societal norms and foster connections. A recurring symbol in her work is the "shadow person," which represents people often forgotten in societal displacement, spiritual connections, and the complexities of identity. Or as a young child once described the shadow man to Torres, "They are there to keep the painting company." Tamara Torres has exhibited her work extensively across the tri-state area and internationally, sharing her unique perspective and fostering dialogue within contemporary discourse.

Woolpunk    

Woolpunk® is an American artist born in Summit, NJ in 1971. Woolpunk® employs materials and techniques sourcing women’s work creation; historically, she machine-knits fiber installations, quilts sculptures, and embroiders photographs. Consequently, her work champions social change, addressing issues such as homelessness, foreclosures, water contamination, and deforestation. Referencing her unique stitching and use of fibers, she trademarked the name Woolpunk®, which she has been using creatively since 2004. Woolpunk's embroidered photographs and sculptures are in the permanent collections of Liberty State Park, Museo Del Cognome in Padula, Italy, Zimmerli Museum, Hudson County Community College Foundation Collection, Eileen Kaminsky Family Foundation Collection, and Montclair Art Museum, among others. Media highlights include Embroidery Magazine, Interweave Knits, Surface Design Journal, New York Times, State of the Arts, WCBS, and WNYC's All Of It with Alison Stewart.

 www.woolpunk.com     |    Instagram: @woolpunk 

What is Fiber Art?

Fiber art is a medium categorized by its materials, utilizing synthetic or natural fibers to create a piece. Commonly used materials include a wide array of fabrics, cord, thread, yarn, upcycled textiles, and clothing. Core methods include sewing, weaving, macramé, felting, embroidery, knitting, crochet, and quilting. Fiber art ranges from 2D wall hangings and tapestries to 3D sculptures, wearable art, installations and more.