DULUTH, GA.- The Hudgens Center for the Arts in Duluth has three new Fiber Art exhibits opening on Tuesday, March 26.

“Repetition & Ritual: New Sculpture in Fiber” is a group fibers exhibition featuring the works of seventeen artists united by their materials and creative process. Curated by Atlanta artist Sonya Yong James, the show centers specifically on the creative act as personal obsession. James states, “Some of the artists deliberately seek out the meditative qualities of repetitive activity to express their ideas, while the repetition found in other artist’s work is an aesthetic result of their process. A prescribed order of assembling, manipulating and presenting materials borders on ceremony for these artists.”

Artists participating in this exhibit are: Emily Barletta, Karen Ciaramella, Susan Cipcic, Jennifer Crenshaw, Elisa D’Arrigo, Meredith Re’ Grimsley, Amy Gross, Pat Hickman, Ferne Jacobs, Sonya Yong James, Clay McLaurin, Ruben Marroquin, Kim Matthews, Junco Sato Pollack, Karen Searle, Vadis Turner, and Katya Usvitsky.

The “Confession” exhibition by Louisiana artist Jes Schrom features vintage handkerchiefs hung on clothes lines in the gallery. Each handkerchief is embroidered with text revealing a secret, which range in content from silly things like “I shave my big toe,” to more serious secrets such as, “Sometimes I cry at night,” and “Son, he’s not your real father.”

This select collection of secrets originated from a public art project created by Schrom for Flux Projects, called “Secrets of Atlanta.” Participants were able to anonymously submit private information through locked boxes stationed around the city. No names, no trails from the post office, no handwriting analysis, no preplan of what to say, no recognizable links at all. The private confessions were then made public by distributing printed paper towels via public rest rooms. For this exhibit, however, more permanent ‘canvases’ were used in the form of the embroidered handkerchiefs displaying the secrets.

“Needles & Threads: Gwinnett Celebrates Traditional Fiber Arts” is the first juried fibers exhibit at The Hudgens. Local fiber artists were invited to submit their works to be considered for inclusion, and the resulting exhibit features works by 15 artists, including many beautiful quilts, a handful of cross stitch samplers, several fine needlepoint examples, and much more. A “Best in Show” award of $100 and three “Honorable Mention” awards of $50 will be announced at the reception.