Artists featured in High Fiber stitch, weave, knit, crochet, and wind fibers or fiber-like materials into textiles, sculptures, and installations. Their expressive forms center on the themes of nature, history, and the consuming power of making.

Since conceptual and feminist artists brought fiber art into the Western mainstream in the 1960s and ’70s, textiles have become central to contemporary artistic practice worldwide. Prior to the ’60s, critics classified fiber art as a cousin to craft. However, contemporary artists create what modernist critics thought unlikely: meaningful, visually compelling, and emotionally charged works of fiber art.

High Fiber is the third installment in NMWA’s biennial Women to Watch exhibition series, which focuses on artists from the states and countries in which the museum has outreach committees. Featured artists include Ligia Bouton (New Mexico), Debra Folz (Massachusetts), Louise Halsey (Arkansas), Tracy Krumm (Greater Kansas City Area), Beili Liu (Texas), Rachael Matthews (United Kingdom), and Laure Tixier (France).