Andrea Vail
small comfort (Unicorn), 2022
Household items from Sept 2020- Sept 2022: hand towel, teething ring, acrylic handle, balloons from daughter's second, birthday, chocolate wrapper, synthetic fabric, thread 9" x 18.5 "x 1.5"
“Tiny piles (comfort objects)” is the working title of a new series of small, personal snapshots. Summer of 2019 my family moved to a new town, less than a year later the pandemic drastically changed public engagement and my community work, and in September 2020 I became a mother. Emerging from major life events, I am processing the function of comfort objects within my own environment.
Andrea Vail
Pile/Assembly (circles and glitz), 2019
Pre-owned objects, jersey knit fabrics, group participation at North Central College, Naperville, IL. 48" x 50”x 8”
“Collecting Pile - Reassemble” is a series of workshops centered on a previous project called Collecting Pile. Participants are invited to build a collaborative work incorporating objects and materials they donate. Pile/Assembly (circles and glitz) is the outcome of a 3-day workshop at North Central College near Chicago. I have led similar workshops at Cameron Art Museum, Bloomsburg University, and Marshall University. Blurb from workshop promo: Informed by the resourceful history of rag rug making, the completed piece will reimagine preowned materials as mixed-media sculpture. Participants will learn basic knotless netting and braiding techniques and are encouraged to bring scrap yarn/thread, objects, and fabrics. Open to all skill levels. Examples of perfect materials to bring are teacups/coffee mugs, pillowcases, t-shirts, and figurines.
Andrea Vail
Rug (sweet crimson shade), 2022
Fabric, decorative trim, previously owned objects 48” x 72” x 6”
literally securing disparate objects within a unified plane of woven textiles, and speaking to the intrinsic experiences, memories, and comforts ingrained in found objects and reworked materials.
