Caroline Silverman
Caroline Silverman is an interdisciplinary artist who focuses on the intersection of object, narrative and context. Working predominantly with textiles, she explores how the soft things that people live with reflect the realities and records of their experiences. In the process of exploring what draws people to their objects, she has made quilts, writing, embroideries, tools, poetry, garments, books and paintings to help her better understand this relationship. In her work she contemplates how these objects are often made with the intention to provide comfort and protection, and strives to extend these gestures to her collaborative work and teaching. Caroline’s recent research has delved into the tactile and intimate relationship between textiles and the body, specifically looking at quilts and embroidery as an extension of memory and embodied experiences. She thinks this relationship is particularly important to consider in analog and digitized ways.
Born in Newburyport, MA, she earned her BFA in Textiles from RISD in 2018 with dual concentrations in Literary Arts Studies and Gender, Race and Sexuality. Her work has been exhibited at the Burroughs & Chapin Museum, Rhode Island School of Design, Emily Harvey Gallery, Dedee Shattuck Gallery and at The Yard, among others places. Her work has been published in Quiltfolk Magazine (2023), A Form of Perpetual Caress (2020) and Objects as Texts in conjunction with Brown University (2018). Caroline currently maintains a multidisciplinary studio practice in New York, NY.
More of Caroline’s work can be found at carolinesilverman.com.
Courses
Fall 2024 Courses
TEXT 4805-01
CHANGING FABRIC SURFACE
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Students work on a specific theme of their choosing and derive designs and concepts from this theme for work in fabric silkscreen. After completing assignments that focus on specific techniques and design problems, students plan and execute a more defined and larger project relying on the experience incorporated during the first part of the course. Fabric construction and dyeing techniques can be integrated into the work.
Prerequisite: TEXT 4803 - FABRIC SILKSCREEN
Elective
Wintersession 2025 Courses
TEXT 4704-101
DIGITAL EMBROIDERY
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Digital embroidery transforms hand-crafted couture into a work of fine art. Just like a tattoo where an image is created with needles and color, so embroidered fabric or paper is needle-stitched with colored threads. A basic knowledge of Adobe Photoshop is helpful, but we will also cover the fundamentals of creating a preparatory design file in Adobe Illustrator. This vector design file will then be artistically translated into a Pulse embroidery file that can be saved and sewn out as as a multiple or repeat pattern. The resulting personalized textile can be applied to fabrics for apparel or interior applications as well as fine art. A series of small assignments will build up a repertoire of techniques and culminate in a final project that summarizes the student's ability and artistic innovation. This course will explore top of the line Tajima Pulse software with the goal of creating personalized images that will be sewn out on a 15-needle Tajima commercial embroidery machine.
Elective
Spring 2025 Courses
TEXT 4704-01
DIGITAL EMBROIDERY
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Digital embroidery transforms hand-crafted couture into a work of fine art. Just like a tattoo where an image is created with needles and color, so embroidered fabric or paper is needle-stitched with colored threads. A basic knowledge of Adobe Photoshop is helpful, but we will also cover the fundamentals of creating a preparatory design file in Adobe Illustrator. This vector design file will then be artistically translated into a Pulse embroidery file that can be saved and sewn out as as a multiple or repeat pattern. The resulting personalized textile can be applied to fabrics for apparel or interior applications as well as fine art. A series of small assignments will build up a repertoire of techniques and culminate in a final project that summarizes the student's ability and artistic innovation. This course will explore top of the line Tajima Pulse software with the goal of creating personalized images that will be sewn out on a 15-needle Tajima commercial embroidery machine.
Please contact the department for permission to register.
Elective