Jackie Abrams
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Archived Blog

A review in Art New England

9/16/2021

 
Dian Parker wrote a wonderful review of my retrospective exhibit in the July/August 2021 issue of "Art New England."
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Jackie Abrams: 45 Years of Making

7/10/2021

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My retrospective exhibit - an honor, a joy, wonderful in so many ways!
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at my artist talk
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December 6th, 2020

12/6/2020

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Petria Mitchell, co-owner of Mitchell•Giddings Fine Arts, in Brattleboro, Vermont, has made a series of videos about my show at the gallery, "Precarious Shelters: Houses that Hold Us."

Click here to see the first one, about materials and techniques.

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Judith Scott and her work

9/19/2020

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The American Folk Art Museum presented a truly wonderful program about Judith Scott and her work. It will make your heart happy.
"Reflecting on the 30th anniversary of the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act this year, Senior Curator Valérie Rousseau and Tom di Maria, Director of External Relations at Creative Growth Art Center, explore Scott’s groundbreaking life and work, taking a closer look at her complex creative process and examining questions of interpretation and exhibition."
https://folkartmuseum.org/.../virtual-insights-judith.../...
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Costa Rica

3/10/2020

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Welcome to San Jose,
Costa Rica

Week #1

La Carpio, in San Jose, is the home of the largest immigrant community in Central America. There are 55,000 people crowded into a very small, poverty-stricken area. The streets are narrow, winding, and hilly, with structures/homes created mostly of discarded metal roofs and lumber. There are ditches on both sides for rainy season. The streets are filled with people, kids, very skinny dogs and cats. It is noisy and busy.
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Sifais was created in the midst of it all. It was founded by Maris Stella Fernandez, at the urging of Alicia Aviles Aviles, a community organizer in La Carpio. Alicia was determined to find solutions for some of the problems in her community. She found Maris Stella.

     Sifais is an organization that promotes social integrations through art. Within the safety of its physical building, Sifais offers lessons in many arts: music, ballet, crafts, boxing, as well as educational and marketing opportunities. It is a safe and welcoming place in La Carpio.
     I was there for five days, teaching 14 neighborhood women to both coil and crochet using recycled fabrics and plastic bags. I learned as much from them as they did from me. With the help of varied and wonderful translators, we cut, stitched, and crocheted. We laughed a lot, often at my disjointed sentences in Spanish.
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Week #2

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Cimarrones is a small, rural village in Limon Province, in the southeast of Costa Rica. It is one of the communities that is visited by the hikers traveling with Mar a Mar, a non-profit association for rural development in Costa Rica. The goal is for these women to make objects that can be sold to the hikers.

My second workshop was in Cimarrones, where I was the guest of Miguel and Mireya Arana. Mireya's English is better than my Spanish (which isn't saying much at all). She is the president of the town, and seems to be the organizer of all that happens there. This included my workshop. She is very rich in family and friends, and in the respect she has in her community.
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Mireya and Miguel's home
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Mireya with her grandaughter, Valentina
     Our workshop was full, with many creative and excited women. Their children generally joined us in the early afternoon, after school let out. The women worked with recycled fabric, plastic bags, and local abaca fiber. They created baskets and bags / canastas y bolsas.
     I had a translator, and finally learned enough Spanish so that I could make a few jokes. We talked about pricing. They felt a fair price would be 2000 colones per hour, equivalent to about $4.00.
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baskets of abaca fiber
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Week #3

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Costa Rica vacation,
here we come!




Corcavado Adventures Tent Camp, Osa Peninsula
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taxi service
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the view from our tent

Corcavado National Park
We walked, and walked, and walked....
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tapirs

Hiking to Drake Bay, more walking....
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Monteverde - a canopy walk through the rain forest
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So many thanks to Sylvia Saborio, who made this trip possible.

Here she is with her good friend, Jose Sancho, Costa Rican sculptor. We had a special visit to his home/studio/gardens.

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Collaborations

11/5/2019

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Collaborations with other artists help us look at our usual work just a little more creatively, to see what is possible. In the end, one plus one equals three.

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"Botanical Vessels"
10" tall. Woven of hand printed copper etchings by botanical artist Bobbi Angell. Click here to visit her website.
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“The True Love” is a collaborative piece created with Steve Lloyd and Cecil Maxfield. Steve and Cecil painted the paper and wrote the words from a poem of the same name, by David Whyte, a poem read at the civil union ceremony in 2007. These words were woven into their basket
 
 
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Not Your Mother's Coiling

10/13/2019

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What a great group of excited and creative students!
In Scottsville, KY, hosted by The Basket Maker's Catalog.
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Beth Hester
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Dana Bennett
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Gin Petty
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Lydia Michels
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Claudia Vandiver
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Debbie
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Linda Bowman
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Lynne Ferguson
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The Woven Tale Press

10/1/2019

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I am so pleased to be featured in the current issue of The Woven Tale Press. You can see the entire on-line copy here.
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pages 76-77
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Sally Roach, Maker Extraordinaire

9/23/2019

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Sally Roach, of Cambridge, UK, is a multi-talented basket maker, who explores multiple materials and techniques.
In addition, she has been a phenomenal workshop organizer and hostess.
Check out her website for more images of her work.

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"Australian Outback I, II, and III," painted paper and wire
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"Sunshine," plastic strapping tape and somband
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"Texan Wildflowers," jute, wool, and embroidery thread
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"My Norwich Roots I and II," painted paper and wire (on left). "Norfolk Roots," paper and map.
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"Wildflower Meadow," wire, fleece, cane/reed, ribbon
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"Termite Mounds I, II, and III," dyed cane/reed sculptures
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"Australia I, II and III," willow bark and wire
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"Summer" and "Poppy Field," dyed cane/reed
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Mad weave baskets, painted paper
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"Delivering Medicine to the Lungs," coiled wool (on left), twined wool and jute
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Bridget Riley at the Scottish National Gallery

9/18/2019

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Movement in Squares, 1961
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Current, 1964
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Both "Movement in Squares" and "Current" are large wall pieces. They literally seem to move before your eyes. 

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November, 1990
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High Sky, 1991
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From Here, 1994
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Copyright © 2021 Jackie Abrams
  • Home
  • About
    • In the News
    • Exhibitions & Galleries
    • Public Collections
    • Artist Statement
    • Resume
    • 46 Years in Images
    • Artist Talks
  • Portfolios
    • Precarious Shelters
    • Twinings
    • Collaborations
    • Women Forms
    • Elemental Vessels
    • Spirit Women
    • Other Works
  • Teaching
  • International
    • Central America
    • Australia & New Zealand
    • Africa >
      • Pokuase, Ghana • Jan 09
      • Ghana & Uganda • 08
      • Pokuase, Ghana • Aug 08
      • Pokuase, Ghana • Jan 08
      • Bolgatanga & Nungua, Ghana • 07
      • Ghana • 06
      • Namibia • 05
      • Nungua, Ghana • 05
  • Archived Blog