Syracuse local breaks boundaries of conventional tapestry in new Everson exhibit
Courtesy of Alison Altafi
Syracuse local Alison Altafi's work is displayed at the Everson Museum as part of the 2023 CNY Artists Initiative. She uses hand-spun and hand-dyed yarn to create abstract, colorful looms.
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Syracuse local Alison Altafi was going through the journey of new motherhood in 2018, leaving her feeling alone and lost during that intense experience. Her outlet, she said, became fiber art.
“Weaving in the round is so cathartic and meditative for me and has helped me through some dark times in my own life,” Altafi said. “It has been a great form of escape for me.”
Altafi is the second of six artists highlighted this year for the Everson Museum of Art’s 2023 CNY Artists Initiative, which supports local artists in their community. Altafi’s work will be on display at the Everson until April 30.
Altafi was first captivated by art at a very young age. She experimented with many different types of art forms before falling in love with fiber art in her twenties.
Altafi uses both hand-spun and hand-dyed yarn to create unique, abstract and colorful looms. A self-taught artist, Altafi said her technique is a departure from traditional tapestry weaving, where the fibers can be removed from a frame. In her work, the fibers hold the tension of the warp strings, so she can add bold textures to the weaving without compromising its structure.
Altafi loves being able to use different materials and colors and finding inspiration from the fibers she works with, she said, often using a particular blend of yarn as the starting point for her weaves.
Garth Johnson, curator of ceramics at the Everson, said that Altafi’s proficiency in her work and the uniqueness of her designs made her a really fascinating artist to display. He described her as a true testament to the art community in Syracuse.
“As a professional artist, Alison draws on a vast network of hobbyists, enthusiasts and small businesses that make and experiment with ‘art yarn,’ spinning wool and other materials into richly textured yarns in a wide range of colors,” Johnson said.
Some of the designs that Altafi said she enjoys designing are “color melts,” which she described as abstract rainbows. She finds herself returning to those designs when she is feeling calm and needs to sit down, relax and weave. Altafi said that picking up her yarn and beginning to work is a soft place for her mind to go and gives her a “cozy reprieve from the rest of the world.”
One of the special aspects of Altafi’s work is the way that different people can find different meanings in each one of her weavings. As different people come and see her exhibition, she said that whatever they interpret from her designs, she hopes it makes them feel wonderful.
“The vibrant, textured surfaces of (Altafi’s) weavings invite contemplation,” said Steffi Chappell, curator & exhibition manager at the Everson. “It’s easy to get lost in the way Alison pairs colors together, and in all the hills and valleys she creates with yarn.”
The Everson is proud to present Altafi’s work, Chappell said, because of the museum’s history of displaying fiber art. From early exhibitions in the 1970s to the 2021 display, “AbStranded: Fiber and Abstraction in Contemporary Art,” Chappell said that Altafi’s work fits perfectly into the legacy of different fiber-art exhibits at the museum.
Although her exhibit has only been open for a little over a week, Altafi is overwhelmed by the positive feedback that she had gotten from the Syracuse area. She said that she is grateful for the love and support from the entire arts community, and she’s excited for more people to come and see her work on display.
Altafi hopes those who come to see her exhibit at the Everson see her art as a means of escape, as she saw the process of creating her art. She said that she often gets lost in the way that the different colors of yarn can come together to create something beautiful, saying that the circular designs of her looms invite introspection and self-discovery.
“I often view my work as portals or round comforting worlds, and I hope it brings that same sense of escapism and comfort to anyone viewing it, “ Altafi said.
Published on March 29, 2023 at 8:04 pm
