In the hands of Houston-based multimedia artist Janice Freeman, swaths of cloth are transformed into an enchanting aviary filled with hummingbirds, wasps, peacocks and bees.
A longtime customer of the tony downtown shop Forty Five Ten, she was encouraged by store stylist Kyle Branch to create an installation all over the shop to ring in spring and the Dallas Art Fair. Already installed in the shop, her soft sculpture menagerie will be displayed throughout the month, with an all-day “sip and greet” event with Freeman on April 10 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“[Kyle] and I became very close, and he has always loved my work,” explains Freeman, who is also known for her colorful, textural canvases represented by Heidi Vaughan Fine Art. “That’s a big thing for me — I juxtapose colors and textures to create the kind of symphony. I’m a multimedia artist, but the one true vein with all my work is color. He gravitated to these fiber sculptures and got this wild idea to hang them all throughout the store.”
Crafted of beautifully textured fabrics, each sculpture takes a year to construct, starting with the construction of a sturdy wood-covered cement stand. Freeman then crafts wire forms she stuffs and wraps in gossamer fabric before layering on a patchwork of textures sourced from the best houses in New York.
Achieving her colorful contrasts with the assistance of a former costumer for the Houston Grand Opera, Freeman makes pieces that range from a 6-foot-tall bird to a 30-inch bee. The sculptures start at around $5,000, with her largest piece retailing for around $10,000.
Details
A “sip and greet” event with Janice Freeman will be April 10 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Forty Five Ten, 1615 Main St., Dallas.
