Diana Weymar: Everything I Touched

KMR Arts is proud to announce the opening of Diana Weymar: Everything I Touched, from August 24 through October 19, 2024. Please join us for an opening reception with the artist, Saturday, August 24, from 3-5 pm. This exhibit is Weymar's first exhibit at KMR Arts.

Diana Weymar is a renowned textile artist and pioneer in the growing world of "craftivism," a movement that combines art and activism to address social and political issues. Weymar grew up in the rugged wilderness of Northern British Columbia, where she learned early on the value of resourcefulness: "Everything we had and did was a creative act of survival." She later studied creative writing at Princeton University.

Everything I Touched is a collection of compelling quotations meticulously stitched on found fabrics such as vintage handkerchiefs and cocktail napkins. The quotations, explore themes of love, identity, and resilience. The act of transforming stitching into art creates an almost subversive result, more powerful than reading the text on its own.

In this work, Weymar seeks out connections, rather than differences. The viewer pauses and processes not only what they are seeing, but how they are seeing it. These are objects that would not have any value and would have been discarded unless someone stopped to appreciate them.

As a “domestic art”, embroidery has historically been associated with women’s work, along with pottery, candle-making, weaving, and knitting, The “domestic arts” have also traditionally transcended class, race, and nationality. Just as quilting bees in the American South served both social and practical purposes, Diana Weymar’s work has gathered momentum with its “call and response” process, drawing individuals from wide-ranging backgrounds and geographical locations together, as they unite and collaborate.

The tactile allure of the embroidery adds a physical dimension to the art, allowing viewers to feel the textures and appreciate the work that goes into each and every stitch: "What makes these pieces powerful is because the handwork is evident," Weymar says. "It's so personal."

Weymar's groundbreaking textiles are inviting and jarring, playful and serious, dainty and powerful. Weymar splashes pastel backdrops and stiches intricate patterns to complement the quotations. Each piece invites viewers to engage with it on multiple levels, creating a dynamic interplay between text, texture, and meaning.

Gallery owner, Kathy McCarver says, “From the moment I saw Diana’s work, I wanted to learn more about it, own it, and exhibit it. This work is intimate and human, an antidote to our loud, impersonal, mass-marketed, mass-produced world. This modern world, with its advances and progress, has rendered humans disconnected. This compelling work is an attempt to connect us through words and thoughts.”

Weymar has fostered a sense of community surrounding her projects, encouraging others to send in their textiles or stitch their own pieces. Throughout her career, Weymar has collaborated with organizations such as Build Peace, the Arts Council of Princeton, and the Nantucket Atheneum. Her work has been showcased across the United States and Canada, receiving international acclaim for its innovative artistic approach.

If you would like more information, please email [email protected].