©
R adar
A W eaver's
W eaver
Throughout her long career as
a weaver, Ethel Stein O has en-
joyed a quiet but stellar reputa-
tion among the textile cogno-
scenti. She has never achieved
wider fame, mainly because she
never sought it. Now, still active
as ever at the age of 91, she may
finally be getting the recognition
she deserves.
“I can’t think of anyone who
qualifies more as ‘under the
radar,”’ says Tom Grotta of
browngrotta arts, which repre-
sents Stein and recently pub-
lished a monograph on her life
and work. Jack Lenor Larsen
wrote the introduction, in which
he credits her for cultivating
the technical mastery to realize
her vision.
Born in 1917, Stein attended
the Hessian Hills School in
Croton-on-Hudson, New York,
where she was taught wood-
working by Wharton Esherick
and painting by George Biddle.
Later she studied sculpture
with Chaim Gross (with Louise
Nevelson among her class-
mates) and design with Josef
Albers. When she took up
weaving, her circle included
such important textile artists
as Lenore Tawney and Mary
Walker Phillips (she also
worked with Shari Lewis to
create sock puppets for the
latter’s popular children’s
t v
show). Her late husband, Rich-
ard Stein, was an architect
renowned for pioneering green
building practices.
Stein weaves every day in
her studio in Westchester
County, alternating between
geometric abstraction and figu-
rative imagery, and between
vivid color and a more muted
palette of black, white and gray.
Her pieces (a sampling from
1980 to 2006 ©) look modern,
yet are informed by her deep
understanding of textile his-
tory, weave structure and loom
technology, honed during the
time she spent as a researcher
at the Cooper-Hewitt and Met-
ropolitan museums, analyzing
rare old textiles in the collec-
tions. “I was looking through
a microscope, drawing what the
threads did,” she recalls. “And
then the thing I loved was mak-
ing use of it.”
“She is taking what she has
learned from historical textiles
and making it her own. Exper-
imentation is very much a part
of that process,” says Lucy
Commoner, the textile conser-
vator at the Cooper-Hewitt
and the author of an illuminat-
ing essay on Stein, her lifelong
friend and mentor, in the
browngrotta book.
Though Stein considers her
age irrelevant, it is remarkable
that she continues to innovate,
still has great facility with the
loom and may be at her peak.
Her recent works are among her
strongest, says Commoner.
“Ethel is a true artist, someone
whose entire life has been
shaped by her creativity.”—
j . l .
Gimme More!
browngrotta.com
H ot Spots
Eye- Openers
Gallery shows, listed A -Z by
state. View complete calendar:
americancraftmag.org
A Z / Tempe
Arizona State University
Art Museum:
n c e c a
Clay National Biennial
to May 30
asuartmuseum.asu.edu
The popular biennial of the
National Council for Education
on the Ceramic Arts offers
viewers significant reflections
on the field’s progress.
CA / San Diego
Visions Art Quilt Gallery:
Elizabeth Busch Retrospective
Exhibition
Apr. 3 -June 7
quiltvisions.org
Striking, often geometric sur-
faces on Busch’s layered work-
acrylic on canvas with quilting
and embroidery applied—evoke
the architecture of an extrater-
restrial landscape.
CA / San Francisco
Contemporary Jewish
Museum:
New Works/Old Story: 80 Artists
at the Passover Table
to June 2
thecjm.org
Invited artists from varied
backgrounds explore a Jewish
ceremonial object, holiday
or concept within the context
of their own mediums and
artistic philosophy.
DC /Washington
National Building Museum:
Smithsonian Craft Show
Apr. 23-26
smithsoniancraftshow.org
Always a crowd-pleaser, this
esteemed show and sale presents
dazzling handmade objects by
gifted American artists.
apr/may09 american craft 017
