Page 5 - 50 Years of Fiber Art: The Fiber Artists of San Antonio Exhibition Catalog

Lynn Basa

Illinois, lynnbasa@lynnbasa.com

www.lynnbasa.com

DECADE: 1980s

Pinto, #1
I began working with small-scale textiles in the 1970's when I was in my teens. As an art
student at Indiana University, I met Diane Itter who encouraged me to keep going with
the macrame/tapestry hybrids that I was obsessively making. It wasn't until I had a
chance encounter with the Constantine/Larsen book, Beyond Craft that I realized I was
part of a larger tribe called fiber artists.

I was heavily influenced by the popular culture of the 1980s. MTV, the Memphis Group,
Miami Vice, fashion, and graphic design. Pixelation was a new concept because of the
introduction of desktop computers and Photoshop. I began to explore the warp and weft
as a grid. I went to France to study with a Gobelin tapestry master and my
craftsmanship became more refined.

I entered competitions
and caught the
attention of curators.
My work was included
in the seminal exhibits
Craft Today and
Threadworks and got
picked up by
museums. I only have
a few pieces left from
this period.

Pinto #1, 1984

Silk tapestry

7" x 7.5" x 0"

$2400.00