In a celebration of fiber and textile artists of the southern Kenai Peninsula, Homer Council on the Arts hosts “Fabricated: A Fiber Arts Showcase.”

On display through September, the exhibit features more than 40 individual pieces of work by more than 20 artists. Both whimsical and practical artworks are on display and include wall hangings, needle felted sculptures, quilts, wearables, knitting, crochet, 2D and 3D felting, weavings, tapestries, sewing and foraged fiber fabrication.

Since 2023, HCOA has been hosting yearly group shows focused on specific mediums. In 2023 they had a ceramics show, in 2024 a Metalworks show, and this year, fiber arts.

“Over the pandemic, fiber arts experienced a resurgence, with a wide variety of folks getting into crochet, macrame, quilting and felting,” said Jenna Gerrety, HCOA marketing director. “And the interest in tactile arts has been increasing with the rise of AI-generative art flooding our screens. Fiber arts have also been historically devalued as ‘craft’ or ‘decorative because of their strong association with women’s work, home and necessity.”

Among the numerous pieces showcased are several macrame wall hangings by Homer artist Chelsea Carpenter of Chelsea May Fiber Arts. Carpenter began crocheting 10 years ago when she lived in the remote Alaskan community of Nanwalek.

“The elders and community taught me to crochet and then I got into knitting,” she said. “Later, I took a macrame plant hanging class and got hooked. I wanted to incorporate all my yarn into my macrame and that’s what got me into making macraweave wall hangings.”

Weaving cotton cord, rope and other yarn materials into her macrame and macraweaves, Carpenter enjoys the feel of the fiber in her hands while she intuitively works to create and design each piece. The pieces in this show were inspired by particular people in her life who encourage, inspire and believe in her, with bits of their personalities woven into the work.

“Bourbon” is a wall hanging made from cotton cord and wool roving that hangs from an alder branch, and took Carpenter about a week to make.

“A friend inspired this piece,” she said. “He is very organic and natural and has interesting and unique ideas. I used colors in this one that are the colors I think of when I think of him.”

“Sally” is a macrame plant hanger made from wooden beads and cotton cord, with the fringe on the top of the pot. Named after Carpenter’s first macrame teacher from whom she took a macrame plant hanging class, Sally inspired her to want to keep learning more.

Lisa Talbott learned to crochet when she was just five years old. She created three pieces for this exhibit.

“My great-aunt Shirley, one of seven redhaired sisters who were all self-taught artists, taught me to crochet lace edges on washrags one Thanksgiving in Tennessee,” Talbott said. “As a young adult, my love turned from crochet to art quilting and knitting.”

When her husband gifted her a rigid heddle loom for Christmas one year, with no experience with weaving, Talbott quickly fell in love with the loom and the craft. This original loom was later joined by a tapestry loom, then a four-shaft floor loom, followed by a smaller rigid heddle loom and another four-shaft floor loom. Today, she is co-owner of Kindred Spirits Weaving Studio, and her business, Raven Fed Designs, is present both online and as a brick-and-mortar.

“Fiber arts strike a deep and ancient chord within me,” she said. “Whether I am spinning or weaving or knitting, my hands know more than my brain does. These are the skills of my ancestors, the survival crafts that kept them warm and dry through long, dark winters, and knowing that I’m continuing the crafts of my ancestors is deeply fulfilling.”

Talbott’s wall hanging, “August,” is a black and gold piece that shows the interplay of dark and light as the seasons change.

“This was inspired by the low-angle sunshine that heralds autumn,” she said.

Talbott created “S.O.S.” as a way of working out her feelings about the current political climate in the United States.

“As the daughter, wife and stepmother of people who served in various branches of the armed forces, as well as coming from a lineage that has had soldiers in every U.S. conflict since the Revolutionary War, including both sides of the Civil War, the American flag has always held deep meaning for me as a symbol of all our many freedoms — both freedoms for and freedoms from,” Talbott said. “Seeing the American flag co-opted by a far-right regime has been heartbreaking and I’ve longed to find ways to take the flag back. I also wrestle with the class warfare happening in our country, with wealth shifting further and further away from workers into the pockets of few who do not care for the common good. My grief shows through the tatters of the flag and the dollar signs of the twill design, exposing the corrosive effects of money and politics.”

Homer artist Deb Rowzee has taken private art lessons and group classes and has a Master of Fine Arts degree in media and performing arts. Her creativity manifests in theatre, dance, music and visual arts.

“Visual mediums I’ve worked with include pastels, acrylics, alcohol ink, oil, fiber — sewing, needle felting and rug hooking — as well as collage, mixed media and clay,” she said. “Needle felting in particular is the most forgiving of mediums. In dry needle felting there’s no dry time, so if you don’t like something, you just pull it off and you’re back to square one.

“I also like the connection to nature that it has and that it’s a great stress reliever. Tough day? Stab at some wool repeatedly. I have essential tremors from time to time, so it comes to my advantage when holding a needle.”

Rowzee works at Homer Senior Citizens Inc. and was initially the manager of the adult day program.

“Needle felting allowed me an easy senior friendly activity. If my participants had Parkinson’s and couldn’t handle the needle, I’d put their hands on top of mine to complete the work. You can have someone with far-gone dementia and show their family that they still can create,” she said.

Among the pieces she has on display is “Laundry Lady,” a piece Rowzee created five years ago for a self-portrait show, utilizing laundry lint to form her face.

“I had come across Heidi Hooper’s Van Gogh dryer lint piece online, and that someone could do anything with laundry lint amazed me,” she said. “Being a stay-at-home mom at the time, I was inundated with laundry, and I began to look at the dryer lint and save the various colors. Some could be felted, but glue was involved.”

In the end, she did not show the piece in that self-portrait show, and so it debuted in “Fabricated.”

Her mounted and framed piece, “Xtra Tuffs,” shows a pair of the iconic Alaskan boots.

“The Xtra Tuffs remind me of what brings me peace in Alaska,” she said. “Wandering around in my boots makes me happy.”

Gerrety is also an artist and has two pieces in the show, including “Play,” an interactive sculpture made from wool and beach stones and set on a platform created from recycled wooden cheese wheel containers. Visitors are encouraged to touch the work.

“I invite people to rearrange the variegated green soft stones, felted chickadee sculpture and red and blue woolen berries in whatever way pleases them,” she said. “I love that it is tactile, comforting and ever changing, while remaining the same. I love coming to work and seeing someone has moved a stone, or rearranged the entire sculpture, and it still gives me the satisfying impression of searching for lingonberries on a forest floor in September.”

Also showcased in the exhibit is “Scraps of Comfort,” a queen-size quilt made by the Kachemak Bay Quilters. A group of quilters who meet weekly to share their love of quilting, they often donate their creations to families impacted by fire or other disasters, as well as to non-profits. Gifted to HCOA, this quilt will be on display and available with raffle tickets through the first week of December. All proceeds support HCOA’s programming and performances.

“Fabricated: A Fiber Arts Showcase” is on display at HCOA through Sept. 30.

“Our goal with this exhibit is to showcase fiber artwork in all of its glory and to highlight the skill, time and creativity it takes to work in this medium,” Gerrety said. “Just because a medium can be considered a “craft” does not make it a lesser form of artwork.”

View the exhibit in person at 355 W Pioneer Avenue, Monday to Saturday from 1-5 p.m. Visit HCOA online at homerart.org.

“Play” is an interactive mixed media piece by Jenna Gerrety, on display through September 2025 in Homer Council on the Arts’ “Fabricated” exhibit in Homer, Alaska. Photo by Christina Whiting

Silk and wool wall hangings by Lisa Talbott are on display in Homer Council on the Arts’ “Fabricated” exhibit in Homer, Alaska. Photo by Christina Whiting

Wall hangings by Chelsea Carpenter are on display in Homer Council on the Arts’ “Fabricated” exhibit in Homer, Alaska. Photo by Christina Whiting

“Laundry Lady” by Deb Rowzee is made from laundry lint and is one of numerous pieces on display through September 2025 at Homer Council on the Arts as part of their “Fabricated” exhibit in Homer, Alaska. Photo by Christina Whiting