VIVA’s August Guest Artist is Fiber Artist Beki Biesterfelt

Meet the Artist - Beki Biesterfelt

Beki Biesterfelt, fiber artist, lives & creates in Ferryville WI after living in NE Iowa & owning a sewing studio for 30 years. 

Her creative process recreates pre & post consumer fabric/fiber waste into handcrafted apparel, accessories and home decor using various surface design techniques such as natural dyeing, botanical printing, felting, machine and hand stitching & beading.

A few of her recent exhibitions/invites include Season 5 (Jan./Feb. 2020) Refashion Runway 3rd place, Fiber Artists of Iowa Exhibition at Grinnell College Museum of Art (June/July 2019), Textile Center 25th Anniversary Gala Runway Show in Minneapolis (Oct. 2019), Fine Line Creative Arts Center Uncommon Threads: Wearable Art Runway Experience in St. Charles IL (Oct. 2017), Naturally: A Natural Dye Invitational Exhibit at Textile Center in Minneapolis (July/Aug. 2016).

Some Fun Questions:

What is influencing your work at the moment?

Visible mending, boro, decorative stitching and the slow cloth movement.

How did you come to focus on your current subject?

During Covid isolation I spent time exploring shibori stitch resist techniques. I finished natural dyeing the collection this spring.

Can you articulate what draws you to a particular composition?

Texture, color and decorative stitching

Who or what has strongly influenced your work?

Natalie Chanin, India Flint, and a desire to keep textiles out of the landfills.

If you could have one work of art in your home from a museum or private collection, what would it be?

An original Madeleine Vionnet garment.

Why did you decide to work in your chosen medium?

I chose natural dyeing and botanical printing as a way to reduce, reuse, revive, reinvent and reimagine my fabric stash accumulated over 30 years of garment design, construction and alterations.

What’s the most indispensable item in your studio?

Sewing machines to speed up the process, but really a needle and thread is the slower rendition.

How do you know when a piece of work is finished?

Usually when the hand stitching or beading is completed.

From where do you draw your inspiration?

Nature, vintage textiles and handwork.

What does your studio look like?

My acreage is my gathering place of plants, leaves, flowers, bark, etc. for dyeing and botanical printing. My wet studio is a climate controlled garage used for printing and dyeing. My dry studio is located in my home for storage, cutting area and stitch/press center.