Jackie Abrams, The Wise Grandmothers, 2021

The Wise Grandmothers

In our culture, crocheting, embroidery, and grandmothers are often not highly valued. These pieces are calling attention to the fact that each one is worthy of respect. The soft walls, representing an aging body, are supported by the wire swirls, accumulated wisdom and spirit, which help them to stand up proud and strong. These pieces are an ode to my grandmother, who taught me how to crochet.

Safari Tea

A stitched piece, one of four teapots I created. The lesson learned from this piece: I used a jar of ‘waterproof’ ink, simply believing the label without testing it first. After the teapot was completed, I painted on a water-based varnish for protection. The ink colors started to run—so not waterproof at all. 

Women Forms

Since 1975, shaping baskets and vessels has always been a joy for me—manipulating materials, colors, and textures to create woven forms that contain space. My craft development work with women in Africa has had a profound influence on my art and on my life. In 2002, I began a series entitled Women Forms. These figurative vessels speak of women, their shared stories, and their layers of experience. They are studies in form, color, and surface textures. These vessels speak of the importance of the women in our lives, of their strengths and sorrows, their growth and joys. Each vessel tells the story of a woman, as an individual. The outside, with its decorated, sometimes rough surface, has been formed and shaped by society and the woman’s life experiences. The inside, which catches the light in unexpected ways, reflects her inner strengths—strengths not always visible but worthy of careful looking. They may stand alone, or gather strength and support from the company of other women.

I create vessels with texture and color, in forms that are woven, stitched, layered, and constructed. Each piece can stand alone, or can be connected and related with other pieces in support and unity, representing a community of women with stories to share. I collaborate with each piece as it develops, working intuitively, allowing a dialogue to emerge, with the colors and textures of the materials informing the vessels as I create them. My materials may include archival or recycled papers, sand, acrylic paint, silk or cotton fabrics, wire, recycled plastic bags, encaustic wax, thread, buttons, or stones. As an educator, my craft development workshops … have had a profound influence on my art and on my life. I have learned to simplify, to let the forms and the materials speak for themselves. The fabrics, the colors, the earth, and most significantly the people, impact the vessels.

~Jackie Abrams

more on the artist page

Jackie Abrams, Bearing Witness, 2019

Collaborative Work with Deidre Scherer

The opportunity to work with Deidre Scherer’s prints has added another visual dimension to my work. After much experimentation, we have developed pieces that combine Deidre’s strong images with my construction techniques to create vessels that reflect women, aging, and connections. Together, one plus one equals three.

Material Conversation

A collaborative piece. Josh Bernbaum blew the glass vase. I responded by creating the same design and shape using the coiling technique and plastic bags. This was one of several pieces we created for a show at the Brattleboro Museum in 2011.

Jackie Abrams
Material Conversation, 2011
collaboration with Josh Bernbaum
glass, coiled
glass, plastic bags, waxed linen thread
10h each, 2 pieces

$3600

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What is to Become of Us?

“Our land is only a small bit of the earth. We are the current caretakers. Springtime is my favorite. The pure, sleepy whites of winter are past; the colors and sounds come alive and sparkle. The apple tree is covered with sweet white blossoms. It has many crooks and bends, with arms for swings and branches for the birds. They fly in and out – robins, bluebirds, goldfinches – just resting, or looking for a place to build their nests. I help them a little, with houses and food, small bribes to keep them in sight. Tiny seeds are planted that wondrously produce our food. We are always healthier in the summer, just standing in the middle of our garden, picking our snacks. The flowers make me wish I could paint, to better describe them. Many colors, and shades of colors. Primroses, bleeding hearts, violets, and forget-me-nots. They will be followed by other flowers, other colors. The birds are singing, the river is flowing. I become used to these sounds, take them for granted. They are part of my life. One season, one small piece of land. What will become of it? ”

see 45 Years of Making retrospective here

Jackie Abrams, Precarious Shelters, 2020

see Jackie Abrams’ Precarious Shelters video

Jackie Abrams
Precarious Shelter #2, 2020
wire, fabric, threads, paper, copper foil
14h x 7 x 6 inches

$2400

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Jackie Abrams
Precarious Shelter #4, 2020
wire, fabric, threads, paper, copper foil
12h x 9 x 10 inches

$3000

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Jackie Abrams
Precarious Shelter #6, 2020
wire, fabric, threads, paper, black mica sand
13h x 10 x 10 inches

$2400

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Jackie Abrams
Precarious Shelter #14, 2020
wire
10h x 5 x 5 inches

sold

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Precarious Shelters: Houses that Hold Us

Precarious Shelters is a continually growing project designed to help raise awareness of the extreme range of homes and shelters throughout the world, as well as in our own communities. My artistic journey has led me to new and challenging creative work exemplified by this ongoing project which reflects the spirit of social justice art. The collection offers visual beauty and craft while seeking to answer vital questions, to bear witness, and to make a difference.

 In 2016, I created a vessel called Shelter, now in the National Museum of Scotland. The piece explores the vessel as a symbol of home, and honors women’s roles in their homes and societies. It also exposes the precarious nature of some homes and serves as a reminder that universal emotions like hope, anxiety, joy and despair reside in those homes.

 My current project grew out of that work. It speaks to the connections between race, class, gender, poverty and more, and asks that we recognize the need for mutual learning, support and social change.

 My goal is to create a visual representation of several communities, crafted with a variety of materials and techniques into three-dimensional self-standing structures, that elicits an emotional response and helps raise awareness of precarious houses that exist everywhere. I hope people who visit these houses will reflect upon what they represent and be moved to act in support of others in ways that are just and honorable.

see Abrams’ Precarious Shelters exhibit here

Jackie Abrams
Tall Houses, 2004
sand over hollow core construction
paint, sand
16h – 18h inches

$1900

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Jackie Abrams
An Empty Shell, 2021
paint, sand, wire, waxed linen thread
15h x 6 x 6 inches

sold

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An Empty Shell

“An Empty Shell was started in 2020, with the intention that it would be the first in a new series of Precarious Shelters. Cancer intervened. For a while, particularly during the time I was getting chemotherapy, it felt like the title referred to my body as well. I know now, absolutely, that it does not. My body is still a collection of the memories of all the people in my life, of my experiences, and a reflection of a life well lived.”

Jan. 19, 1949 – Nov. 6, 2021

see Jackie Abrams’ obituary here