Jill Nicholson

Artist’s Statement:
The act of selecting individual fibers, and then weaving them together to create a pattern that is rich and meaningful on a multitude of levels, suggests to me countless metaphors, which apply to, and reflect our daily lives. While my primary interest is in exploring contemporary themes that relate to our fast-paced, high tech life styles, I have selected one of the most traditional mediums know to man to do so - that of tapestry weaving, which consists of the use of both contemporary and traditional materials and techniques. When I work at the loom, running the shuttle through the warp, watching pattern develop, my thoughts are about how art imitates life. Emotions are mirrored in the textures, colors, and juxtapositions of the fibers and objects that I bring to the loom. My goal is to create works that seek first to understand the essential qualities of a particular idea, and then to give them such expression and representation that the “soul” of the piece is unmistakable.

Background:
Jill Nicholson was born in Chicago, and not long after, moved with her family to a small town in western Illinois, located along the Mississippi River. Like many mid-western families, whose survival from one year to the next depended not only upon individual resourcefulness, but on the support network provided by community-at-large, the Nicholsons took little for granted, while taking pride in demonstrating self-sufficiency.  Accordingly, Jill learned from her mother at a very early age the art of sewing. She routinely made her own clothes, at first adhering strictly to formal patterns, but eventually becoming more experimental as her awareness of African-American and Native American heritage was awakened.

I have been a Artist all my life. Growing up in, I routinely made my own clothes and spent …. My black and native American heritage stimulated an affinity for the Indian weaving and antique fabrics I found at area museums. I’d spent the summer months experimenting with designing and sewing garments. I fell in love with Tapestry the first time I walked through the Art Department at Northern Illinois University. I watched students making fabrics