Sue Cavanaugh

Artist Statement

My work is about connections and the marks that connections make. Literally, it’s the connection between my hand and cloth, between my fingers and the stitch. Using stitch-resisted shibori (a variation of the makume pattern where the stitches are pulled up and knotted to create a resist), the stitches are removed after dying. But their one-time existence leaves a permanent mark, much the way a fossil reveals a long-gone plant or animal, or lines around the eyes suggest a life with laughter. Stitches past and present provide the pattern. Thickened dye is painted on to add color.

About the artist

Since 2002, Sue Cavanaugh has been a full-time studio artist. She works in fiber, dyeing and patterning cloth, and assembling pieces for the wall. In Ohio, her work has been seen at the Ohio Craft Museum (Ohio Designer Craftsmen’s Best of 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007), the Riffe Gallery, the Johnson Humrickhouse Museum, the Ross Museum, the Dairy Barn, Wayne Center for the Arts, Lima ArtSpace, the Southern Ohio Museum and the Professional Division of the Fine Arts Exhibit at the Ohio State Fair. She was commissioned by the Ohio Arts Council to create the 2006 Governor’s Awards for the Arts in Ohio. Currently, she has a piece in the Surface Design Association’s juried member’s exhibit that is traveling in the U.S. She is a past-president of Art Quilt Alliance and a member of the American Craft Council. Her studio is in her home in the Short North Arts district in Columbus, Ohio.