Beth Barron's "Repair #X: War Torn," a hand- stitched panel incorporating found Band-Aids and lace, is one of four works by the Minneapolis artist at Fe Gallery in Lawrenceville. Click photo for larger image.

"Fiberart International 2004," a biennial exhibition of contemporary fiber art at the Society for Contemporary Craft and the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, organized by the Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh, has inspired a number of fiber art exhibitions throughout the area. Following is a look at some of them. Information on others may be found at www.fiberartinternational.com.

Fe Gallery

Interactive, installation and conceptual are only some of the styles represented in a buoyant exhibition at Fe Gallery that stretches boundaries of what's generally perceived as fiber art.

The 17 artists in "Strands of Fabrication" -- two men and 15 women -- include regional artists Wendy Osher, Shawn Quinlan, Akiko Kotani and Makiko Miyamoto; two from Montreal and others from as far away as Maine and Los Angeles.

In "Leisure Suit #1," Osher continues the cultural probing she debuted last fall in the successful "Boy Code: Embroidered Thangkas" at Penn Gallery. Giant rats, tiny running humans and clocks embroidered on a '70s polyester double-knit jacket question where the leisure went. Quinlan works through disturbing TV news reports in controlled, small panels that contain graphically delineated symbols -- the flag, a gun -- beneath a maelstrom of threadwork.

Kotani's fine "The Wall," white stitching on gray silk, suggests both contemplation and exclusion. "Sheathing," an interactive piece by Miyamoto, may seem at first an odd representation of a "womb," but within the white tent-like space the experience is strangely peaceful; it's commendable that the artist incorporates the rhythmic motion and sound of breath rather than overused heartbeats.

Other works enliven by their site specificity, such as Rebecca Vaughan's knitted pipe leggings, "Unnecessary But Desirable"; the unkempt physicality of Angela Willcocks' squirmy "Thraxpat" that surrounds the visitor with pink fleshy blobs that sport unruly and suspect spikes of hair; and "Seepage," which comprises found objects and appears to clamber up a column, by Caroline Lathan-Stiefel, whose piece in the gallery's last show was also a big hit.

Mindy Yan Miller made use of the basement space for "I Fell Asleep," which ambiguously conjures both a child's day-care center and homeless encampments.

"Spoon With Nails" by Asheville, N.C., artist Wonder Koch is in "Strands of Fabrication" at Fe Gallery in Lawrenceville. Click photo for larger image.

Other highlights are Saaraliisa Ylitalo's exquisite "Shadows" series, life-sized abstracted women's forms, beautiful and haunting; Beth Barron's very fine, expressive abstract compositions that incorporate found Band-Aids and speak to brokenness and repair; the energized staple and paper wall pieces by Jozef Bajus that call to mind Jerry Bleem's sculpture in Fiberart International; and Ann Marie Kennedy's lovely, quietly suggestive flax paper, string and dried plant compositions that appear to be memory repositories. Other works vary in success, but all feed a discussion that is very rewarding to partake in.

"Strands" runs through May 15 at 4102 Butler St., Lawrenceville. Gallery hours are noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Information: 412-860-6028.

James Gallery

The craft basis in the exhibition at James Gallery is more readily evident, but here too the artists infuse their works with individualistic vigor.

The focus is on Massachusetts artist Elizabeth Whyte Schulze, who masterfully crafts basket-inspired forms of pine needles and natural raffia, then paints them with archetypal figures suggestive of Lascaux cave paintings or Southwest Indian petroglyphs. This layering creates a narrative about the evolution of handwork and contemporizes the pieces.

Particularly handsome is the plentifully rotund "Violette," the surface of which is nearly consumed by a large, violet, organic form flowing against a background of white polka dots on black that's interrupted by -- or perhaps covering up -- an earthy field of figures. Witty are her colorful, eclectically shaped works, such as the suspended "Five Longs" or 56-inch long "Spout," suggestive of gourds, snakes and shower heads among other things.

"5 Longs" by Elizabeth Whyte Schulze is part of a fiber exhibition at the James gallery in the West End. Click photo for larger image.

While the latter gain by the suggestion of ritual solemnity, Angela Pasquale flips stodgy expectations in her exuberant stitched sculpture. A native of Italy, the Pittsburgh artist, who began learning embroidery when she was 10, developed a technique she calls "Sculpture Stitch" to create unique three-dimensional forms that walk happily between funk and sophistication. While the more two-dimensional pieces are tactically rich, her greatest success is in the 3-D visualizations.

Rounding out the exhibit are quilts by Texan Sue Benner and Pittsburgher Jan Myers-Newbury, both of whom employ various techniques to dye the fabric used, and Laura Tabakman's dolls. The latter two and Pasquale are Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh members.

The exhibition continues through May 22 at 412 S. Main St., West End. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Information: 412-922-9800.

Spirits Embodied

A relatively new space on the North Side, Spirits Embodied Gallery of Fine Art, presents "Dreams and Legacies: African American Fiber Arts."

A wide range of stylistic choices by several artists well-known in the local fiber community and nationally is displayed, from venerable Ruth Ward's fastidiously turned and stitched pieced works to LaVerne Kemp's saucily expressive "Yellow Jacket." Tina Williams Brewer and Sandra German exhibit more modestly sized pieces than usual, in scale with the gallery size, but that doesn't diminish their narrative or formal impact.

Work by Emory Biko, such as "Rasta Man," and Vanessa German, such as "Great Grandmother's Hand-Me-Down Mourning Gown," exhibited recently at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, gain potency through their materials and three-dimensionality.

Gallery president Granderson Glenn II also features dolls by Tina Kenney and Doris McGillan that represent the African-American experience.

"Dreams" continues through May 15 at 607 E. Ohio St. Hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Information: 412-322-2223.

American Jewish Museum

The American Jewish Museum, Jewish Community Center, Squirrel Hill, is holding a quilt auction "Celebrating 350 Years of Jewish Life in America."

Nationally known Pittsburgh artist Louise Silk donated 28 beautifully made quilted works, completed between the 1980s and the present, to benefit the museum's exhibition program. They include traditionally patterned, abstract and narrative works.

A silent auction will continue through May 23, and there appear to be bargains to be had. Quilts, for example, with values to $1,000 open with a minimum $50 bid, with increments of $10. A bid number must be purchased ($10) at the Centerfit Desk (parking level). Seven quilts are reserved for a live auction that begins at 2 p.m. May 23.

Also exhibited is the Quiltlinks/Public Art Pittsburgh quilt, created by East End Jewish and African-American teens, which has been traveling through Western Pennsylvania since 2000. The quilt is a joint project of the JCC and the East End Cooperative Ministry, and one of its two panels will become part of the collections of each organization.

Information: 412-521-8011, ext. 105.