Heidrun Schimmel

Statement:

"For many years, I have stitched exclusively by hand, because I am interested in the connections between thread and time and thread and humanity. Mythologically, thread is connected to human existence; its length and quality are metaphors for the duration and character of our lives. Works made with thread are labor intensive, time consuming, yet, they are ultimately transitory in their fragility. Stitching, with its endless rhythmical repetition, is a procedure in time, like breathing in and out; writing with needle and thread.

My ideas stem from the soft, unstable, flexible qualities of textile material. This focus on "material as matter" results in forms that cannot always be projected in advance. For the realization of my ideas, I stitch white cotton thread by hand onto transparent black silk organza – the simplest material and the simplest technique: the stitch."

Heidrun Schimmel

Selected collections and exhibition venues:

Institute of Modern Art, Nuremberg, Germany (solo exhibition); Lausanne, Switzerland (9th International Biennial of Tapestry); Kyoto, Japan (International Textile Competition); Williamson Art Gallery and Museum, Birkenhead, England; (Art of the Stitch – traveling exhibition); Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pennsylvania; Museum of Arts and Design, New York, New York (Fiberart International – traveling exhibition); Sonje Museum of Contemporary Art, Kyongju, Korea; Quinta Isabela Museum, Valencia, Venezuela (3rd International Biennial of Women in Textile Art); Central Museum of Textiles, Lodz, Poland (4th International Triennial of Tapestry); Szombathely, Hungary (International Biennial of Miniature Textiles). Taking Time, Craft and the Slow Revolution, (traveling exhibit organized by Craftspace Birmingham, England), The Waterhall, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Birmingham, England, and 6 venues in England-Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Recipient: Marianne Kor Award and Joanne Purrington Folley Memorial Award, Fiberart International; First Prize, Biennial Women in Textile Art, Miami, Florida; Milward Award, Art of the Stitch; 2010 2nd Place, Non-Functional 2-Dimensional Category, Fiber Celebration 2010, Greeley CO, USA.