February 22 - April 5, 2025
Catalog design: Michael Yochum
Logo design: Rachel Leibman
Arc Gallery © 2025
Basket making is an ancient craft with a rich history spanning thousands of years. It speaks
to heritage and tradition, frequently made for functional purposes but still with such a strong
sense of design and imagination. Different regions and tribes have their own unique styles,
often passed down from generation to generation. The makers are stewards, maintaining
and memorializing their cultures and customs by recording their stories with reed, bark, and
vines.
These days, basket making has evolved from its utilitarian roots into a unique form of
artistic expression. Our exhibit celebrates this vibrant evolution, showcasing a diverse
array of makers who push the boundaries of basketry, blending traditional techniques
with a wholly contemporary perspective. With their use of unconventional materials
and innovative shapes, the artists incorporate cultural narratives and personal stories
into their work. The art in this exhibit is genuinely unexpected, the results of putting an
ostensibly simple craft into such creative and original hands.
Rachel Leibman and Linda Tapscott, Curators
Exhibition Statement
OPENING RECEPTION:
Saturday, February 22nd, 7-9pm
CURATORIAL TOUR & ARTIST TALK:
Sunday, March 2nd, 1:30-3:30pm
POP-UP BASKET AND TEXTILE SALE:
Sunday, March 16th, 11am-4pm
Participating Artists
Barbara M. Berk
Toni Best
Bob Darchi
Emily Dvorin
Rachel Leibman
Youngmi Angela Pak
Barbara Shapiro
Linda Tapscott
Peeta Tinay
Ealish Wilson
Barbara M. Berk
website: www.barbaraberkdesigns.com
IG:
@barbaramberk
My sculpture embodies the interplay of traditional fiber
techniques with metal.
Drawing on the sewing I loved as a girl and the metalsmithing
skills I acquired as an adult, I use 16th Century stitches
to make ribbons and crescents of bobbin lace by hand with
stainless steel and phosphor bronze wire. I then curve, loop,
twist, interweave, layer, sew, embroider, filigree, weld and
polish my flat lace fabric into three-dimensional forms,
which
become
wall-mounted,
ceiling-suspended
and
pedestal-supported sculptures.
I play with geometry, density and texture, probing the limits of
scale, volume and structural integrity. Positive and negative
space – both the openings that reveal the lace pattern and
voids in the form itself – create and mask transparency. Light reflections and shadows define and enhance
form.
My process – applying familiar methods to unconventional materials – is slow and repetitive. It can be
rhythmic. It can be therapeutic. It is always labor-intensive. Ultimately, transforming coils of wire into sinuous
sculptural forms brings me joy.
Photo Credit: Irene Searles Photography
Oskar Schlemmer’s Dancer
stainless steel; 16th Century bobbin lace stitch
30" x 15" x 11"
$8,000
photo credit: Morgan Murphy
Around and Around
Stainless steel and resin; 16th Century bobbin lace stitch
11" x 9.5" x 8"
$4,500
Barbara M. Berk
photo credit: Fred Aron Photography
Grand French Knot
Stainless steel; 16th Century bobbin lace stitch
23" x 19" x 3"
$4,000
Barbara M. Berk
photo credit: Fred Aron Photography
Toni Best
website: tonibest.online
IG:
@tonibestbaskets
Basketry has been part of Toni Best’s life for over sixty years.
After starting with reed and splits in eighth grade art class, she
continued to create baskets throughout high school. She majored
in music in college, studied organ under Marie-Claire Alain in Paris,
and received her Masters in Classical Organ performance at
Syracuse University. She learned to create pine needle baskets
and retired from being a classical organist in the mid-1980’s.
Since then, Toni has turned her musicality into her art form of
pine needle basketry. She feels her music when she coils and
expresses it in the movement and flow of her baskets. Her pieces
have been juried into many shows and galleries in California as
well as conferences for Handweavers Guild of America and the
National Basketry Organization. She has taught at different
conferences and fiber guilds in California, Washington, and
Arizona and at Arrowmont in TN and Pocosin School of Fine Craft
in NC. Toni has been an Artist in Residence for two public schools in California - Liberty School in Visalia
and Sierra Charter School.
Spiraling Vortex
Pine needles coiled with artificial sinew on a dyed Lagenaria gourd
12" x 16" diameter
$1,600
A Touch of Copper
glycerin treated pine needles and copper wire coiled with waxed linen on a dyed gourd
4" x 8" diameter
$300
Toni Best