Polly Barton

Polly Barton (b. 1956, New York, NY) has been working in fiber art for over thirty years. She is known for adapting the ancient weaving technique of ikat into contemporary woven imagery.

As a young artist, Barton points to her formative job as the personal assistant to Helen Frankenthaler, from whom she observed the inner drive, resilience, and intention necessary for an artist. The year was an introduction to the challenges and rewards of the New York art world.

In 1981, she moved to Kameoka, Japan and lived in the religious heart of the Oomoto Foundation to study with master weaver, Tomohiko Inoue. She practiced tea ceremony, calligraphy and Noh Drama with Oomoto's master teachers.

Barton continues to weave and shows her woven ikats across the United States. Her work is in many collections including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Community Hospital Foundation of Monte Rey, and the Longhouse Reserve in New York. Hali Magazine, FiberArts, Surface Design Journal and American Craft, among others, have published her work. She is a member of the Textile Society of America, the Surface Design Association, the Textile Study Group of New York, and the Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Association.