Alice Beasley

I've been making fabric portraits in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1988. From the beginning, my goal has been to use fabric as a medium of expression. I incorporate the same light, shadow and realistic perspective used by artists in other mediums, but without the use of paint, dyes or surface treatments. Instead I use the ordinary quilter's tools of commercial fabric and thread to make portraits and vibrant still life compositions. Rather than relying upon templates or photo projections, I prefer to work directly, building a composition in the same manner as a painter working on a canvas. All pieces are cut free-hand from fabric with scissors or rotary cutter, fused and machine appliqued.

In addition to my fiber art, I am also a wire sculptor. My wire pieces are formed by knotting and twisting wire into figurative shapes of people and animals which are then either mounted on canvas or hung directly on walls. These pieces have the look of gestural drawings and are just another way of capturing the vitality of living forms in an artistic moment.

Website design by HYPERSPHERE
Photographs by Sibila Savage, Jim Jacobs & Don Tuttle