My art shows textiles in an archaeological context, presented as fossil specimens. Constructed of local
salvaged linens, my work is connected to the people in my community, past and present.
DIANE SAVONA
...reviewed
Passaic artist weaves history at the Hermitage
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
by John Zeaman
The Record
The Hermitage, Ho-Ho-Kus’ splendid house museum, seems to
wrap up. North Jersey history all in one building. Built for the
Prevost family in 1750, it housed George Washington in the last,
suddenly confident months of the Revolution, was the location of
Aaron Burr’s wedding, and was home to four generations of the
Rosencrantz family who gave it its distinctive Gothic Revival look.
Less well known is that the Hermitage has one of the largest
costume collections in the metropolitan area – some 10,000
garments spanning three centuries, according to Hermitage
director Richard Sgritta.
This makes it an ideal stage for a Passaic artist named Diane Savona. Savona fits into no simple artistic category. You might call her a fabric or textile artist, but that doesn’t begin to describe the transformations that fabric undergoes in her hands, or the layers of meaning she imparts to it.
She calls this show “Closet Archaeology.” Instead of bones and pottery shards, however, her artifacts are corsets, buttons, aprons, christening gowns, clothespins, ironing boards, bolts of fabric, mannequins and coat hangers.
_____________________________________________________________________Closet Archaeology
Bergenation.com
The Hermitage Museum, a historic house and education center at 335 North Franklin Turnpike in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, will host its major 2010 art exhibit entitled Closet Archeology, which opens on January 30, 2010.
The exhibit features the contemporary textile art of Diane Savona, a resident of Passaic, who uses deconstructed historical garments and found objects to reconstruct new forms that are incorporated into unique visual collages. Other pieces feature historical textile elements displayed in innovative settings. A unique element of Closet Archeology is that it integrates historical textile artifacts from the Hermitage Museum’s private collection that mirror Savona’s work.
______________________________________________________________On The Beat
NJN Public Television
Diane Savona works with cloth, making quilts and other textile-based pieces. A recent exhibition, Closet Archaeology, at the Hermitage Museum in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, juxtaposed Savona’s work with historical textile artifacts.
Savona’s pieces reflect upon the past while employing once common sewing skills that are now rarely learned by young girls. Her work will be featured in 500 Art Quilts by Lark Books (2010), and in 2007 she was a resident artist at Peters Valley Craft Center. Producer Susan Wallner will visit Savona at her house in Passaic, New Jersey, which has literally been turned into one big workshop.
Visit Diane's Studio: click here then scroll up to the video player and click "Diane Savona"
