Artists give diverse perspectives in “Threads: Stories and Histories through Textiles” at the Pauly Friedman Art Gallery

Artists give diverse perspectives in “Threads: Stories and Histories through Textiles” at the Pauly Friedman Art Gallery

Misericordia University’s Pauly Friedman Art Gallery exhibits “Threads: Stories and Histories through Textiles” through December 16, 2023.

Strength, flexibility, and the process of attaching and detaching give textiles a practical role in everyday life. In “Threads: Stories and Histories through Textiles,” these same characteristics provide apt metaphors for responding to displacement, injustice, and adversity. In this exhibition curated by Gallery Director Lalaine Little, the works of four artists – Maria-Theresa Fernandes, Lahib Jaddo, Anthony Pabillano, and Michelle Talibah, express the strength of human bonds and the determination to retain cultural heritage and family ties. These three-dimensional sculptural pieces are made from a variety of materials, including repurposed fire hoses, hand felted fabric, handwoven vinyl, and hand beaded fabric. The different techniques show the fragility of bonds – a stray thread here and there, the fraying at the edges of the fabric, and the light puffs of material as fibers are pulled and stretched to their limits.  

MARIA THERESA FERNANDES Maria-Theresa Fernandes was born and raised in Kenya to East Indian parents. Having earned a degree in Embroidery from the Manchester College of Art in England, she exhibited in England and North Ireland until she emigrated to the United States in 1981. Her career has included residencies in Nigeria, Spain, India, and France. She has served as an art educator with special populations, including adults with physical and learning disabilities and residents of a women’s prison and a women’s refuge. 

LAHIB JADDO comes from a small ethnic minority in north Iraq known as the Turkmen. She immigrated to the United States in 1977 and has been a professor in the College of Architecture at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. The sculptures and paintings in “Threads” are inspired by the movements, language, and clothing of women in her family.

ANTHONY PABILLANO was born in the Philippines and currently resides in Houston, Texas. He studied art in high school and was inspired by phobias. In his current work, he uses mixed media and traditional Philippine weaving patterns to express his journey out of the shame of hunger, poverty, homelessness, and abandonment he experienced as a child. He is now a board member of the Visual Arts Alliance of Houston. 

MICHELLE TALIBAH is a Baltimore-based painter, public artist, educator, and curator. Over the past thirty years, she has achieved national acclaim as a painter and has exhibited in galleries and visual art venues throughout the United States. She is the recipient of the Washington D.C. Art Commission/National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship Grant and engaged in a broad range of media during artist residency at Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, The Studio Museum in Harlem, York, the Vermont Studio Center, Johnston, Vermont; and most recently, at the Experimental Printmaking Studio at Lafayette College and Raven Editions Printmaking Studio, Easton, Pennsylvania.

Support for this exhibition comes from the Sandra Dyczewski Maffei Endowment Fund for the Modern Visual Arts. Sandra Maffei was a local artist and art patron based in Wilkes-Barre and Pittston. Her own oeuvre tended toward abstract impressionism. Through this endowment established by her husband Carmen Maffei following her passing, we are able to highlight the works of women artists exhibit art forms and techniques that incorporate abstraction.

There will be a free reception and artmaking event on Thursday, November 30, from 5:30 to 7:00pm. Artists Michelle Talibah and Maria-Theresa Fernandes will be present to talk about their work with audience members. Live music will be performed by Leah Valenches and Peter Brubaker of the NEPA Philharmonic. 

Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Thursday, 12:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.; Friday – Sunday, 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.; all other times are by appointment

Location: Misericordia University, 2nd floor Insalaco Hall; 301 Lake St, Dallas, PA, 18612

Admission: Free

Contact: (570) 674-6250; misericordia.edu/art

About the Pauly Friedman Art Gallery

The Mission of the Pauly Friedman and MacDonald Art Galleries is to engage the Misericordia campus and community in creative experiences through visual arts exhibitions and programs that foster critical thinking, intellectual curiosity, and global citizenship. Regular gallery hours are 12-7 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday and 12-5 p.m. Fridays to Sundays. Other times are available by appointment. It is CLOSED during university closings and holidays. Admission is always free to all. Please call or check the gallery website, www.misericordia.edu/art, to confirm your visit. To schedule a free tour or private appointment, or for more information, contact the art gallery director, Lalaine Bangilan Little, Ph.D., at (570) 674-6250 or email llittle@misericordia.edu.