M A T E R I A L C U L T U R E
The Body
Upholstered
STO R Y BY
Shannon Sharpe
Below and opposite
top and middle:
In “Momentos of a
Doomed Construct”
models, including
Jenna Hager (shown
here), “trapped” in
upholstered Orbs,
gazed outward, creating
a powerful interaction
_________________
between the viewers
and the women within
A Statement on femininity, Stephanie L in er’s
Orbs address women’s Struggle fo r power in today’s
society— an underlying theme in her art.
“I can’t imagine making art without people,”
Stephanie Liner says. Liner is referring
to the models who occupy her Orbs, huge,
upholstered egg-shaped sculptures formed
from plywood, with openings allowing
viewers to peer in and discover a beautiful
woman sitting inside. The woman is
trapped. She rarely moves and if she does,
it’s in slow motion. She easily wears her
top, but she must be stuffed into her skirt—
it is sewn into the inside wall of the Orb.
“It can make people uncomfortable,”
Liner says, which is part of her goal. “I like
to make people feel slightly off.” Which
is why the beautiful fabric, often Jacobean
floral- or Colonial Williamsburg-inspired,
on the outside of an Orb never quite match-
es the equally lovely upholstery inside.
Liner has always been interested in fab-
rics. Growing up in Hillsboro, NC, she was
surrounded by the town’s slowly declining
furniture-making industry. She studied
textiles and sculpture at North Carolina Col-
lege of Design. But it was when Liner was
living in Madison, w i, where she pursued
her
m f a
at the University of Wisconsin,
studying under Aristotle Georgiades and
Gail Simpson, as well as Stephen Hilyard,
Laurie Beth Clark and Tom Loeser, that
she first began exploring upholstery. “After
the Take a Piece series, I thought I should
take the next step and learn upholstery,”
Liner says. “I began connecting the body
with interiors.” Taking a break from gradu-
ate school, she interned at the Straight
Thread, an upholstery shop owned by Mat-
thew Nafranowicz, as well as working at
Virginia Lienhard’s store, Gayfeather Fab-
rics. “There was a lot of tearing fabric off
026 american craft june/julyio
www.WorldMags.net & www.Journal-Plaza.net
“Momentos of a Doomed Construct” photos David Nevala, hair styled by Jason Heussner.
