Philis Alvic is an artist, weaver, and writer, who maintains a studio in Lexington, Kentucky. She has exhibited her complex woven wall textiles in over 300 juried and invitational exhibitions. Weavers of the Southern Highlands (University Press of Kentucky, 2003) and Crafts of Armenia (USAID/IESC Armenia 2003) are her two books and she has written over 100 magazine articles. As a short-term consultant for crafts development and marketing, she has worked on projects in Peru, Morocco, Nepal, India, Armenia, South Africa, Namibia, Kenya, Rwanda, Madagascar, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Sri Lanka. Alvic is a founding member of the Kentucky Craft History and Education Association and currently serves as treasurer of Weave A Real Peace.
Artist Statement:
These two pieces are from My Rabun Gap Series that were produced during the time I was researching the weaving business of Mary Hambidge, who worked in the northeast Georgia mountains. The pieces convey the essence of the space and the intensity of the color of the places, rather than a pictorial representation. They are loom-controlled pattern weaving, conveying a series of visual ideas that are not usually approached through weaving. A dominant theme is the exploration of illusionary space in a consistent format of large vertical rectangle panels. Another theme of the work is symmetrical figures.
The pieces employ cotton and synthetic yarns in a variety of textures. All yarns are commercially spun and dyed. Both of these pieces are woven in a weave structure called Summer and Winter in which the shuttle is thrown from selvedge to selvedge.
Website
http://philisalvic.info/
