MORRISTOWN, NJ.- The Morris Museum presents a new exhibition, Visual Thoughts: The Art Quilts of Fiber Revolution, which presents nineteen works by nineteen textile artists and will be on view from June 23 – October 16, 2011.

Fiber Revolution is a network of professional textile artists whose collective goal is to provide greater visibility of their art while educating the public about fiber art as an exciting art form. Although the art is constructed from fabric, it is not meant to lie at the foot of the bed, but rather to hang on the wall like an oil or watercolor painting. The artists exhibiting their work under the Fiber Revolution name use fiber as their medium: dyeing it, painting it, cutting it, tearing it, stamping it, fusing it and embellishing it. The final step, stitching through the layers of fabric, brings a dimensional depth to the artwork that mere paint cannot.

Fiber Revolution member Kevan Rupp Lunney, of East Brunswick, NJ, is the exhibition curator of Visual Thoughts: The Art Quilts of Fiber Revolution. Lunney’s personal fascination with textiles began as a young child, when she took naps under her grandmother’s pastel, depression-era quilts. Now, she considers making art with fabric "a medium which allows tremendous freedom of expression, and continues to be challenging with the breadth of possible techniques from painting, printing and dyeing to computer-generated imaging on cloth." Discussing the creative process, Lunney quotes author Jonathan Swift, who said, “Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.” Lunney says, “Without the picture in our mind’s eye, that little thought out of nowhere, there would be no art making, and indeed no exhibits. This exhibition celebrates the spark - the moment when thoughts are visualized.” She suggests that visitors to the exhibition consider “it is often difficult to remember, when viewing a finished work, that it all began as one small idea, a leap in the dark, no matter how experienced the artist.”

Fiber Revolution Artists included in the exhibition are:
Virginia Abrams, Hockessin, DE • Natalya Aikens, Pleasantville, NY • Deborah J. Bein, Poughkeepsie, NY • Benedicte Caneill, Larchmont, NY • Lisa Chipetine, West Hempstead, NY • Melissa Craven Fowler, Ithaca, NY • Cindy Friedman, Merion, PA • Martha C. Hall, Vernon, NJ • Gloria Hansen, East Windsor Twp., NJ • Eileen Lauterborn , Farmingdale, NY • Kevan Lunney, East Brunswick, NJ • Barbara Barrick McKie, Lyme, CT • Judith Plotner, Gloversville, NY • Wen Redmond, Strafford, NH • Carol Sara Schepps, Princeton Junction, NJ • Deborah Schwartzman Philadelphia, PA. • Kate Themel, Cheshire, CT • Melitta VanderBrooke, Newtown, PA • Carolyn Lee Vehslage, Erial, NJ