Seattle Art Fair by Barbara Matthews

One weekend a year for the last nine years, an extraordinary celebration of art occurs in Seattle—the Seattle Art Fair. Galleries from around the world and the greater Northwest come together to show leading artists. Among the 80 or so booths, painted wall art predominates, however this year highlighted glass and even featured a hot shop--all excellently described. in the Seattle Times https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/visual-arts/seattle-art-fair-2025-provides-a-meeting-ground-for-art-lovers/

I want to highlight the fiber art that I found. As you might expect, a rather scanty percentage of the entire show consisted of fiber-related pieces. Because installation of the pieces sometimes required engineering, I try to capture the installation method.

1)      Deborah Butterfield – Wood Sculpted Horse

2)     Niki Keenan, Meteor Flower in the Astral Islands, acrylic on canvas, gauze, and plaster on wire frame,15x9x7 1/2 feet

3)      Flora Carlile-Kovacs, Waterscape II, Merino wool and silk, 30”x 60”, $4,980

4)      Seiko Purdue, Undisappeared Clouds, Ikat installation with wood, nails, cotton yarn dyed with natural dyes, 82”x73”x59”, one continuous yarn woven on nails,$4,000

  

Sonya Yong James, Shapeshifter, horsehair and thread, (limited details about the piece)

6)      Peter Combe, Liz w/ Pearl Necklace, Mixed media, 48”x60”, $26,000

7)     Ko Kirk Yamahira, Untitled, Graphite and partially unwoven linen and wood, 69”x69”, $8,300 and partially unwoven canvas 42”x42”, $5,800

8)      Brenda Mallory, Constraint to Vertical #17, Waxed cloth, nuts, bolts, 12”x28”, $3,500, sold

9)      Anida Yoeu Ali, The Red Chador Becoming Rogue, Many Chador garments available to try on (more photos in Seattle Times article).

Holly Ballard Martz, (Dis)regarded, Vintage quilts, thread, glass seed beads, hardware, 49”x12”x12”, $9,500

Angela Glajcar, several pieces, paper and linen(?)

Irene Palomar, Plastic World, Stretcher fabric, cotton yarn, plastic  packing thread, $1,800

Melissa Monroe, Duplicating Everything, Ceramic feet, found wood cat bench, paint, wool, 40”x13”x24”, $6,500 and Stay Awhile Crocodile, wool tufted and upholstered on wood bench, ceramic feet, 84”x19”x 15”, $8,500, sold.