Weaver and Mystic – Women and Textiles

Tuesday, March 4, 2025, 7:30pm

HCAC and Zoom

Taught by Mary Zicafoose

Program Overview

Through the ages it is women who have spun and dyed, woven and sewn the garments of paupers and kings. Women have also quietly carried the torch of vision and leadership as prophetess, oracles, teachers and seers. This program inquires into the cultural role of the female in articulating age-old messages and planetary themes through the use of intuition, spiritual guidance and the manipulation of fiber.

About the Artist

Mary Zicafoose’s tapestries and rugs span the globe from large-scale public installations to the private collections of the United States Embassies on three continents. Her woven pieces blend cultural icons and symbols with a contemporary hand, creating powerful visual statements in fiber. The work and processes are a reflection of the artists’ superb craftsmanship and her ability to speak articulately through the use of color.

She is an ikat tapestry weaver. Her fascination with pattern and indigenous cloth began as a child, with a scrap of Indonesian fabric given to her by a traveling aunt. After many formative years of art schooling and teaching,sheI somewhat surprisingly found herself behind a loom. She has spent the last three decades in pursuit of visual surprise on the flat woven “rug” surface, through dye processes, tapestry techniques and intriguing color play. Weaving is a personal vernacular that speaks about her unabashed use of color and the power of symbols.

Mary has worked, traveled and taught throughout the Americas. A largely self taught weaver, she received her BFA from St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana. Her graduatesStudies include the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Nebraska. She credits her courage at the dye pot to the influence of painter Mark Rothko and her designs to every textile she has seen and touched.

She currently maintains a fiber studio in Omaha, Nebraska, and is constructing a new home and studio on her historic property, Pahuk, on the Platte River.

Artist’s website:  Mary Zicafoose

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