Work
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending / 2017 / January 6 – February 10, 2018
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending / 2017 / January 6 – February 10, 2018
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #24 (detail) / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 41 x 30 x 9.5 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending / 2017 / January 6 – February 10, 2018
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #16 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 17 x 10 x 9 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #16 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 17 x 10 x 9 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #16 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 17 x 10 x 9 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #16 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 17 x 10 x 9 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #24 (detail) / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 41 x 30 x 9.5 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #19 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 16 x 7 x 6 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #19 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 16 x 7 x 6 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #19 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 16 x 7 x 6 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #18 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 16 x 13.75 x 7 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #18 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 16 x 13.75 x 7 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #18 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 16 x 13.75 x 7 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending / 2017 / January 6 – February 10, 2018
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #22 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 26.25 x 11 x 6.5 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #22 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 26.25 x 11 x 6.5 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #24 (detail) / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 41 x 30 x 9.5 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #13 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 18.25 x 10 x 9.5 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #13 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 18.25 x 10 x 9.5 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #13 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 18.25 x 10 x 9.5 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #24 (detail) / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 41 x 30 x 9.5 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #14 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 16.5 x 11 x 9.5 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #14 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 16.5 x 11 x 9.5 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #14 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 16.5 x 11 x 9.5 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #15 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 15 x 10.5 x 9.5 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #15 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 15 x 10.5 x 9.5 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #17 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 18.5 x 10.5 x 8 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #17 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 18.5 x 10.5 x 8 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #17 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 18.5 x 10.5 x 8 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #20 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 13.5 x 13.5 x 7 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #20 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 13.5 x 13.5 x 7 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #21 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 21 x 12.5 x 7 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #21 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 21 x 12.5 x 7 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #21 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 21 x 12.5 x 7 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #23 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 20 x 11 x 9 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #23 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 20 x 11 x 9 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #23 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 20 x 11 x 9 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #5 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 20.5 x 16 x 10 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #5 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 20.5 x 16 x 10 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending #5 / 2017 / fabric, ceramic / 20.5 x 16 x 10 inches
Press Release
KALW 91.7 FM: Listen to the upcoming interview with Ramekon O’Arwisters on KALW Local Public Radio 91.7 FM San Francisco:
Sights & Sounds – airtime Thursday, January 25, 7:44am & 4:44pm
Crosscurrents – airtime Wednesday, January 31, between 5-5:30pm
Events:
Saturday, February 3rd at 3pm: In Conversation: Demetri Broxton & Ramekon O’Arwisters. Demetri Broxton is the Director of Education at the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) in San Francisco, where he manages an outreach program for Bay Area students. Broxton served as co-curator for Decoding Identity and curator of Past Forward: African Spirituality in Contemporary Black Art at the Sargent Johnson Gallery, African American Art and Culture Complex in San Francisco. Outside of MOAD he serves as an independent curator and educator.
Closing Reception: Saturday, February 10th at 3:00pm, Ramekon leads in a Crochet Jam, please join us, no experience necessary
Exhibition Dates: January 6 – February 10, 2018
Ramekon O’Arwisters: Fiber Sculpture
Reception: Saturday, January 6th, 3 – 6 pm
Patricia Sweetow Gallery opens 2018 with the crocheted fabric sculptures of San Francisco Bay Area artist Ramekon O’Arwisters. The exhibition opens Saturday, January 6th through February 10th, 2018. Reception for the artists is Saturday, January 6th from 3 – 6pm.
Ramekon O’Arwisters unique crocheted/ceramic sculptures are aptly titled, Mending. The free-form abstractions entangle shards of broken ceramic vessels within coils of crocheted fabric. Employing ordinary household, or decorative pottery that’s broken and discarded, O’Arwisters combines traditional crafts into a dimensional woven tapestry, stripping both cloth and ceramic of their intended function.
Ramekon grew up in North Carolina with a grandmother who included him in the tradition of quilt making. “When I was growing up in North Carolina, I helped my paternal grandmother, Celia Jones Taylor (1896–1982) make quilts. Quilt-making with her is one of my fondest childhood memories. With her, I was embraced, important, and special. I was a little black boy hiding my queer self from my family during the harsh reality of the Jim Crow South during the 1960s and before the turbulent years of the Civil Rights Movement that spread throughout the country.”
We’re also pleased to announce Ramekon O’Arwisters will be featured with RECOLOGY Artist Residency at the January 2018 UNTITLED Art Fair in San Francisco. Ramekon is the founder of Crochet Jam, a community arts project infused with folk-art traditions that foster a creative culture in cooperative relationships.
Born in Kernersville, North Carolina, O’Arwisters earned a M.Div. from Duke University Divinity School in 1986. He was an artist-in-residence at the de Young Museum; the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, and the Vermont Studio Center. Grants and Awards include Artadia: The Fund for Art and Dialogue, NY, the San Francisco Foundation and the San Francisco Arts Commission Cultural Equity Program. He also received the 2014 Eureka Fellow, awarded by the Fleishhacker Foundation, San Francisco. His work has been featured in the LA Times, San Francisco Chronicle, 7×7 Magazine, Artnet, and the San Francisco Examiner.
PRESS:
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