Anastasia Azure is an American artist noted for her work combining ancient weaving, traditional metalsmithing and contemporary materials to create geometric sculpture and jewelry. She lives and works in Rhode Island in the Providence area.
Born: Oct. 30, 1973 Education: Rhode Island School of Design, California College of the Arts Known for: Textiles, Jewelry Website: anastasiaazure.com
1. Work She creates woven, dimensional mandalas by interlacing textiles and metalsmithing. Her work is hand-woven on a floor loom with metals and plastics. Exploring the elegance of geometry through serene symmetry, her sculptures reveal the harmonious system of the universe. The woven layers gracefully undulate and intersect, creating supple curves and depths of shapes to designate an area for tranquility. Pairing the flexibility of hand dyed fishing line with the strength of metal, she utilizes the ancient Peruvian double-cloth weaving technique to explore the divinity of mathematics and complexity of science.
2. Career She is an interdisciplinary teaching artist. She teaches outreach programs in public elementary schools, a variety of collegiate courses, and specialty craft workshops in jewelry-making and weaving with alternative materials. She has been an Artist-in-Residence at the Appalachian Center for Craft and UMass Dartmouth.
3. Education: First introduced to jewelry fabrication at Wellesley High School in Massachusetts, she continued more rigorous training at the Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts, San Francisco, graduating in 2001. While earning her BFA in 2005 from California College of the Arts, she discovered weaving’s immense importance to her life’s work. She completed her MFA in Textiles at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2011.
4. PUBLIC COLLECTIONS Grand Hyatt Hotel Abu Dhabi UAE 2018 Ritz Carlton Hotel Half Moon Bay CA 2017 Hilton Hotel Singapore 2014 Tennessee State Museum Nashville TN 2008 Museum of Contemporary Craft Portland OR 2008
5. SELECTED EXHIBITIONS' Bristol Art Museum Bristol RI Fiber and Glass 2018 Highfield Hall Falmouth MA Interwoven: Art Meets Nature 2017 T.F. Green International Airport Warwick RI Green Space 2015 Fuller Craft Museum Brockton MA Game Changers: Fiber Masters and Innovators 2014 American Textile History Museum Lowell MA Curtains of Aurora 2014 Museum of Science Boston MA Ocean Stories: A Synergy of Art and Oceanography Exhibition 2013 United States Embassy Dhaka, BANGLADESH Art in Embassies, U.S. Department of State 2012 Museum of Arts and Design New York NY LOOT: Juried Jewelry Exhibition 2011 SOFA NY New York NY Snyderman-Works Gallery 2009
6. AWARDS & SCHOLARSHIPS Niche Award Winner 2008, 2009, 2010 Rhode Island School of Design Textiles Fellowship 2009-2011 Saul Bell Design Finalist 2009 Handweavers Guild of America Scholarship 2009 Northwest Area Arts Council: Fiber and Textile Arts Scholarship 2009 Women’s Jewelry Association Scholarship 2009 Manufacturing Jewelers and Suppliers of America Scholarship 2009, 2003 American Craft Council Searchlight Artist 2008 Florence Resnikoff Emeritus Scholarship, California College of the Arts 2003-2005
7. References http://www.providencejournal.com/entertainmentlife/20180215/fiber-glass-transformed-in-bristol-art-museum-exhibit http://www.worldofthreadsfestival.com/artist_interviews/046_anastasia_azure_12.html http://www.explorefiber.com/anastasia-azure-weaving-sculptural-forms-with-metal-and-other-materials/ http://thewarpandweftblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/anastasia-azure.html
8. External links https://www.anastasiaazure.com/ https://www.artavita.com/artists/17642-anastasia-azure
