ARTIST STATEMENT
I create as communication. It is my way of speaking to myself and thinking. The rhythmic process of working with my hands expands meaning, and possible resolutions to real problems. Disease, homelessness, death, failed aspirations and social issues almost always dominate the theme as I start, but where am I going? Through textile techniques and thoughtful contemplation, my hands forge a movement forward. With every image, I am telling a story about myself, my relatives, and people I know personally. I follow a path of making things better or overcoming loss, damage, or injury. For me most of the images have a sad core, but as I weave together memories and experience, both from history and our current times, the visuals that emerge bring out healing laughs, hope, and an opportunity to give rise to new voices and for viewers to find their own stories.
“The Secret” recalls my childhood. There were secrets I knew but was forbidden to tell and a web of unknown secrets that surrounded and entangled me.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Residing in San Francisco, California, Marie Bergstedt re-emerged as a full-time artist in 2005, following 25 years of employment as a development director in not-for-profit schools and arts organizations.
Bergstedt has spent the recent 17 years concentrating in mixed media art, telling stories all about people. During this time her artwork has appeared in six solo exhibitions and more than 100 group exhibits across the world, receiving 28 awards. Bergstedt participated in four artist residencies, among them the Lucas Artists Programs at Montalvo Art Center and The Studios of Key West Florida. She has been invited to present lectures, workshops, webinars and videos, including at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, Coastal Carolina University, Surface Design Association, Yuma Art Symposium, and SOFA Chicago.
More than 40 publications include her works, two of which are the Netherlands’ Textile Art Around the World by Ellen Bakker and Artistry in Fiber: Sculpture by E. Ashley Rooney and Anne Lee. In 2019-2021 her artworks were included in the World Textile Art VIII Bienal, Madrid, “Scythia” in Ukraine, Festival of Quilts in England, TexpoART in Romania, and The 11th Lausanne to Beijing International Fiberart Biennale. In 2021-22 she was an invited artist for “Lin LeCheng and His Friends” in Shanghai, Timeless Textiles Gallery in Australia, the European Cultural Centre’s Art Biennial Venice 2022, the 12th LB Fiberart Biennale at Yunnan Museum, China, and the World Textile Art’s 25th anniversary exhibit.
© Marie Bergstedt