The Philadelphia Inquirer October 24, 2004 |
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EXPRESSING LIFE'S TEXTURE |
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| An artist's sensibilities about career and home come out in fabric collages. | ||
by Valerie Reed Just Another Monday, a colorful blend of fabrics, reflects Elizabeth Fram's contentment in the midst of family chaos. "Who hasn't heard, 'Mom, I forgot to tell you' on Monday morning?" asked the mother of two teenagers. Yet the demands -- conveyed in the abstract collage by a small figure doing a flip -- are eclipsed by what Fram called joyful colors. Just Another Monday and 18 other textile collages hanging in the Pennswood Village Art Gallery in Newtown Township illustrate Fram's positive outlook on life and her attempt to find balance between career and family. A graphic designer with a background in pastels and watercolors, Fram gravitated toward fabric and thread after the births of her daughter in 1988 and her son three years later. "I was searching to find a way to work artistically and to be the best mom I could be, to be there when they needed me, to not give short shrift to that part of my life," said Fram, 46, who started by making a quilt and an appliquéd pillow. She bought a discounted bag of fabric and "in small steps one thing led to another." A motivating factor, she added, was the ability to put down the work easily to run to school or attend a soccer game. When she moved with her family to Washington Crossing in 1995, Fram had completed a handful of collages. She began to exhibit her works - which range in price from $350 to $1,400 - four years ago. Julia Hullar, chair of the Pennswood Village Art Gallery committee, called Fram's work imaginative. "I love the textures and different fabrics," she said. "Some are flat. Some are rumply. Some are distressed." Fram's recent works incorporate discharged fabrics, created by using bleach to remove the dye on stitched, bunched or tied fabric. The process, which Fram called reverse tie-dye, produces dramatic patterns. To create depth, Fram appliqués, embroiders and layers the hand- and machine-stitched fabrics. She said she often leaves raw edges and bold stitches in her works to create a rapport with the viewer. "I'm tring to create work that has a physical presence so a viewer can see that I've been there. ...I'm trying to make marks. That's the beauty of the process for me," she said. The geometric forms, inspired by events in her daily life and in the world, have become more abstract over the last decade, Fram said. "They've become more individual, less quiltlike, more experimental and more expressive." Fram buys fabric with an eye toward color and texture, not with a specific work in mind. The creative process begins back at home, generally with jazz playing in the background. "I approach them as paintings. ...I think of the fabrics as a palette," said Fram, who works in a fourth-bedroom studio, surrounded by fabrics tossed on the floor. "I feel like I am auditioning or interviewing the pieces," she added with a smile. "Certain colors just zing together." After selecting the fabrics, Fram folds and aligns the pieces. The most time-consuming part, the stitching, comes next. Fram said it takes about a month to complete a piece. Her latest designs are inspired by Japanese gardens and by the reflection of light on the Delaware River. "Art is a personal expression, a visual personal expression, one you either connect with or don't connect with," she said. "It provides grounding in my life. It's a centering effect." Back to top © Elizabeth W. Fram All rights reserved. |