Artist's Statement

I've always been fascinated by fabric. I found the tactile satisfaction that I need from the start. Now, after many years of working with fabric, I have discovered techniques which also satisfy me visually. My work reflects both my lifelong flair for the dramatic and my love of nature.

The love of the dramatic is why part of my work involves costuming for theatre. I love the challenge of figuring out period patterns, assessing period styles and silhouettes, and learning what sorts of trims, accessories, and acoutrements were used in a particular period. The clothes of both medieval era and the 1940s, for instance, incorporate so much detail! I also enjoy patterning....and as time goes by, I am becoming more enamored of draping. There are periods in fashion history -- the 1920s, for example -- that require draping rather than flat patterning.

TOP ROW: Costumes built for May 2006 production of "A Macbeth" at Binghamton University. BOTTOM ROW: Costuming for a production of "The Country Wife" also at Binghamton U. .

The intrigue of costuming obviously carries over into my creation of dolls, with a big dollop of whimsy and fantasy added in!

The abstract in many of the wearable art and hangings amongst my pieces is the way I see the world, finding symbols around me everywhere. That's the love of nature piece. I try to work only with natural fibers, thus giving myself an extra connection with the earth.

I hope I have conveyed a sense of fun as well as the dramatic in many of the pieces. The world, as I present it through my fiber artworks, is exciting, hopeful, and fun-filled. My desire is that everyone who sees my work can find some of those things for themselves.
--L. Annette Short, 2001