Text and Textiles
Exhibition Dates: January 27-May 3, 2026
The work in this exhibition was made by students in the art history seminar, Text & Textiles, an advanced course examining modern and contemporary artists who make work at the intersections of text and textile. The words text and textile share their origins in the word texere (to weave). This semester the course focused on the semester-long exhibition that was installed at University Galleries, Jen Bervin: Shift, Rotate, Reflect . Bervin is a visual artist and poet whose multidisciplinary work is based in text and textile. She works across a range of fields, oftentimes working with scientists, scholars, and other artists and writers. As a class, students explored Bervin’s work through the lenses of gender, identity, social justice, poetics, narrative, materiality, and form. They also explored the ideas of slow-looking and research-creation. All students worked on research projects for this course: research papers, exhibition projects, and hybrid studio-writing projects.
Most of the work in this exhibition was made as a part of a hybrid studio-writing research project, including works by: Emily Booton, Christina Dababneh, Kelly Mangan, Karlie McDonnell, Nellie Metcalf, Lilly Riza Graham, AJ Westley, and Catherine White. Work by Christina Dababneh and AJ Westley was made in addition to their research projects.
"Text and Textiles" at CIRA
A wide view of CIRA gallery showing a velvet yellow dress embroidered with Arabic lettering.
"Text and Textiles" at CIRA
A wide view of CIRA gallery showing a velvet yellow dress embroidered with Arabic lettering and a multiple other artworks.
"Text and Textiles" at CIRA
A wide view of CIRA gallery showing a velvet yellow dress embroidered with Arabic lettering and a multiple other artworks.
Text and Textiles at CIRA
A closeup of a yellow dress with hand embroidered text.
"Text and Textiles" at CIRA
A closeup of a yellow dress with hand embroidered text.
"Text and Textiles" at CIRA
A closeup of a multi-texture painting incorporating textiles to create a portrait of an older man.
"Text and Textiles" at CIRA
A closeup of the texture of a charcoal drawing.
"Text and Textiles" at CIRA
A charcoal drawing with significant texture hanging on the wall of CIRA gallery.
"Text and Textiles" at CIRA
A view of 11 small, colorful, square embroidered pieces hung in a row on the wall at CIRA.
"Text and Textiles" at CIRA
A close-up of 6 small, colorful, square embroidered pieces hung in a row on the wall at CIRA.
"Text and Textiles" at CIRA
A close-up of 5 small, colorful, square embroidered pieces hung in a row on the wall at CIRA.
"Text and Textiles" at CIRA
A view of 11 small, colorful, square embroidered pieces hung in a row on the wall at CIRA.
"Text and Textiles" at CIRA
A wide view of CIRA art gallery featuring a charcoal drawing of a plain t-shirt and a stuffed and sewn figure of a person placed near the wall.
"Text and Textiles" at CIRA
A closeup of a green and tan sewn book cover and a page of poems on the wall at CIRA gallery. One page says "An unimaginable pain consumes your entire being."
"Text and Textiles" at CIRA
A closeup of a green and tan sewn book cover and a page of poems on the wall at CIRA gallery. One page says "You cherish the time you have with your other parent."
"Text and Textiles" at CIRA
A green and tan sewn book cover surrounded by five spreads of poetry. The poems are not legible.
"Text and Textiles" at CIRA
A dark blue wall hanging made of woven and glazed ceramic strips.
"Text and Textiles" at CIRA
An embroidered portrait of an older man in an embroidery hoop.