Artist Statement
Cyndi Wolfe is a weaver, dyer and surface design artist with a love of the interplay between color, fiber and structure. In fact, color is her passion, particularly as it is influenced by the quality and intensity of light. She has been creating and embellishing cloth for over 20 years, focusing on producing textiles that communicate a sense of beauty and order.
Cyndi uses silk almost exclusively in her work because of its luminous and reflective qualities. Her silk scarves have the feel of watercolors because she dye-paints the silk yarn before it is woven. Her choice of colors and the luxurious feel of the silk are intended to bring the wearer a sense of harmony and well-being.
In addition to her woven work, Cyndi explores texture and color through creating stitched shibori fabric. She also makes lapel pins of vintage kimono fabric embellished with beads, fetishes, embroidery and findings.
Artist Biography
There are many paths to an artistic life, and any minute is the right time to begin. With a Bachelor’s degree in History and a Master’s in Public Administration, Cyndi had a successful career in business - focused on program management, technical writing, and helping companies interface successfully with the federal government for over 30 years. While she enjoyed her time in the business world, her passion has always been textile arts. From the age of 6 or 7, when her mother guided her first piece of embroidery, she has never been without some sort of fiber related project. Having been informed by her third grade teacher that she was not artistic, she found great satisfaction in working with needle and thread - never realizing that not all art requires oil paints and canvas. Cyndi says that while she may never be an accomplished painter or sketch artist, in wearable art she has found the perfect medium for expressing her love of clean design, color, and structure.
Cyndi purchased her first loom in 1980 in New Orleans, and with a kind and patient mentor was able to learn the rudiments of weaving. Twenty years ago, a fortunate move to Seattle, Washington, brought her to the Seattle Weavers Guild, a great community of weavers, dyers and surface design artists. With the generous support of this community, the variety of classes available in the immediate area, and an inability to focus on only one thing, Cyndi has studied a number of techniques including weaving, color theory, shibori, and katazome (Japanese rice paste resist).
Cyndi is a member of the Seattle Weavers Guild and the Whidbey Island Weavers Guild, and a founding member of the Seattle North End Arts Tour (NEAT) .