In the WTP Spotlight: Jackie Abrams

Enjoy our WTP Spotlights, notable selections featuring artists and writers from our Woven Tale Press magazine. To read the issue in full subscribe here.

IN THE WTP SPOTLIGHT: Jackie Abrams has been a basketmaker since 1975, when she first apprenticed to an eighty-one-year-old traditional white ash basketmaker. Since 1990, she has been exploring plaiting techniques, the use of heavy cotton paper as a material, and the possibilities of contemporary basketry. Her work is represented in many collections, most notably the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution and the National Museums Scotland. She has received grants from both the Vermont Arts Council and the Vermont Community Foundation. She teaches throughout the United States and in Guatemala, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and Ghana. 

See Jackie Abrams’ work in WTP Vol. VII #8

“Woven Forms is a series of woven vessels that speak of women—their shared stories, and their layers of experience. The series is a continuing study of form, color, and surface texture. These vessels speak of the importance of the women in our lives, of their strengths and sorrows, their growth and joys. Each vessel tells the story of a woman, as an individual. The outside, with its decorated, sometimes rough surface, has been formed and shaped by society and the woman’s life experiences. The inside, which catches the light in unexpected ways, reflects her inner strengths—strengths not always visible but worthy of careful looking. They may stand alone, or gather strength and support from the company of other women.”