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Dina Barzel has
been working as a full-time artist since 1970 and has been
exhibiting her work internationally, nationally, and locally since 1972.
She uses natural and synthetic fibers, clay, wood, and metal to make fiber
sculpture at her studio in Bellevue, WA, where she has lived since
1978. In her early work Barzel used traditional fibers and techniques to make large abstract forms. As her work evolved, she incorporated wires, fiberglass, and other materials whose capacity to be manipulated as fibers inspire the progress of her work. |
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| Barzel was born
and spent her childhood in a village in the Western Carpathian Mountains
of Transylvania. There, the traditional uses of fibers were an essential
part of everyday life and of her upbringing. She learned the ways in which
delicate strands of plant are spun into fine strong thread and twisted
into thick rope. Limp, fragile strands of wool, when matted, stood up by
themselves. Pliant twigs made solid nests, walls, and wagons. Haystacks
and grass rooftops were presences, each imbued with the mark of its maker.
These were her first encounters with art. Having grown up Jewish in Europe during and after World War II, Barzel did not consider art as a way of life until she was in her mid-thirties. By that time she was already settled in the United States. In the 1960s, after seeing images of the monumental fiber sculptures of Magdalena Abakanowicz and the delicate, expressive fiber sculptures of Lenore Tawney, she started making fiber sculptures herself. Employing the skills she had, using easily available materials, and working intuitively with no functional aim unlocked a door. She studied art at adult education courses at the University of Washington, The Factory of Visual Art in Seattle, and the Camden Institute in London. Mostly, she taught herself and took workshops to learn the skills necessary to achieve her goals. Lyn Lipetz, her first weaving teacher, wrote about Barzel: “She came to us to get technical ability to realize her images. Rather than starting as a beginner she was way ahead mentally” (The Seattle Times, February 18, 1973). Barzel’s work has been shown in many one-person and group exhibitions, including shows at the Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, WA (1972); the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA (1976); the Seattle Art Museum (1978); the Museum of American Craft, New York (1986); the Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA (1991); the Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle, WA (1996); and the Francine Seders Gallery, Seattle, WA (2000). Her work was included in the “Craft Today: Poetry of the Physical” inaugural exhibition of the Museum of American Craft, New York (1986), which traveled nationally, and in “Craft Today U.S.A.” (1989), which traveled throughout Europe, opening at the Musée des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. Barzel’s awards include “Best Sculptural Award” at the international exhibition “Fiber Structures,” held at the Carnegie Museum of Art (1976), “Award of Honor” at the I.F.R.A.A. Liturgical Art in Architecture exhibition, Arlington, VA (1983), and “Outstanding Achievement in the Arts” at the Bellevue Art Museum (1989). Her work has appeared in local and national publications including Contemporary American Women Sculptors (1986). Her sculptures are in public and private collections, including The Museum of American Craft, New York; Seattle City Light; and The Swedish Cancer Institute, Seattle, WA. This is Barzel’s second solo show at the Francine Seders Gallery. The work in this show consists of six large and two small freestanding sculptures and eight wall sculptures. These sculptures are a continuation of her quest to interpret her surroundings as a web of intricately worked threads, every one of which counts. |
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Artist's Statement
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