Rubi McGrory: She's a Basket-case!

"I'm not someone who buys into the idea of suffering for one's art, but I shed quite a few tears over these baskets"- Rubi McGrory

  

Animal, Vegetable, Mineral Baskets

Recently, I enjoyed visiting with SCAD fibers artist Rubi McGrory in her home/studio.  Her wonderfully eccentric nature charmed me instantly as did her unusual artwork.  Her awesomely unique character is naturally evident in her work and surroundings. Once inside her home, every place my eyes rested there was something to marvel over so much so that I forgot to drink the cup of tea she so graciously prepared.  I was too busy making discoveries--propped up in an armchair rested Rubi's embroidered Mall of America floor plan, a silk dress emblazoned with her hand sewn logos hung near the mantle, a ruffled old softball rested on a curio shelf amongst other treasures such as her husbands snow-globe collection, a painstaking hand sequined truck still a work in progress was tucked behind a pillow, a stream of creative consciousness post it notes crawled up the wall, and she proudly pointed out the current "curated art show" on the refrigerator that is updated each month.   Other curiosities included a spinning retail store worthy postcard rack filled with every postcard she has ever been given, a tiny pouch taken out of a drawer filled with her hand sewn dollar bills and my favorite--fiber works she made for the one she so sweetly and unfailingly calls "her handsome husband".  Please read on to see some of these wonders and also her thoughts on the work and process.

Artist Rubi McGrory

I love the sculptural lines of Rubi's Animal, Vegetable, Mineral Baskets.  They are so zen like, I imagine they would bring a organic and tranquil design element to almost any decor.   Rubi was featured on HGTV's show "That's Clever" demonstrating the painstaking process of making them.  Rubi was challenged by SCAD professor Cayewah Easley in a 3D fibers class to weave a basket based on the concept of either animal, vegetable or mineral. Rubi explains how she took this challenge to a whole other level.

Process that Rubi devised to make Animal, Vegetable, Mineral Baskets

"When I explained it to my husband he upped the ante and challenged me to use all three, hence the rock base, the rawhide spokes and the seagrass weavers. I wouldn't say physics is one of my strong suits, so these really pushed me. It took a lot of work not just to figure out how to create the basket on the rock, but  to synthesize the technique so I could manipulate the dimensionality and create a basket shape complimentary to that of the rock. The two most important aspects of production control  is that the whole structure must remain under tension, and  to ensure that, the rawhide spokes must be wet and supple while hanging from a rod. Once dry, they are nearly impossible to re-saturate without risking the integrity of the seagrass weavers."

The artist hard at work. Her sign makes me laugh! 
I had to censor it just a bit- sorry Rubi!

Antique lace on used softball

I have dreamed of this ruffled old softball ever since seeing it at Rubi's home.  I just adore that she saw the potential in a discarded ball and added a decided bit feminity in the form of ruffled antique lace.  

Detail, antique lace on used softball

"I was playing around with combining elements. I have a whole crate of vintage lace and trim and was trying to find to new contexts for them , including a fast food cheeseburger with purple lace. The softball literally fell into my lap one day at the park, where I was stitching something else. It was an old dead ball, so the coach let me keep it. I have a funny relationship with softball in that every year growing up I had to play little league softball. I hated it and was hands down the most terrible player ever. All I wanted to do instead of softball practice was take art classes. I guess they both won."

"Money Talks"  

"Money Talks" is a collection of individual one dollar notes hand-stitched with cotton floss by the artist. I love the idea of tacking up a few of these on a small wall space at home in lieu of a more traditional form of art! 

Rubi's artist statement for her MFA thesis solo exhibition, Art™:  

"We are inundated with advertising not just through traditional media, but within our personal sphere as well. Almost every object and product we buy is emblazoned with logos and slogans.  Ownership of said objects and products includes the constant advertising their presence in our private sphere constitutes."

Books in Rubi's studio that she used in researching thesis

"In time, we become inured to logos as agents of consumerism. They become part of our visual lexicon, defining and driving our ideals and ambitions, both as individuals and consumers. In our global economy, many of these symbols transcend political and national borders. Icons of our ideology, we subconsciously read logos as symbols and other visual motifs, not different from those of theology, cartography, politics, heraldry, sciences, etc. 

"Mall of America Map Sampler™"

"For centuries, embroidery samplers were not only a means of education for girls and women; but a demonstration of their mastery of feminine arts, thus indicative of their worth as wives. In contemporary households, women make most of the day-to-day purchasing decisions, and thus are responsive to advertising."

"Social Networking Dress™"

"By re-creating contemporary consumer symbols through traditional techniques of hand embroidery, I facilitate a dialogue between maker or viewer and handmade object. The proliferation and repetition of manual stitches belies the mass-production and lack of human authorship attributed to these symbols. Through my references to domesticity, I ask the viewer to visit their personal relationship to logos and branding."

"Quilt™"

This is such a sweet piece, it is not for sale but I just had to share it.  Rubi made this as a gift for her "handsome husband".

Wool thread on linen


Artist Bio: Rubi McGrory received her MFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design in fibers. She has an undergraduate degree in Creative Writing from the University of Connecticut and has studied at the Culinary Institute of America and the Royal Thai School of Culinary Arts. When Rubi isn't making art, she might be making food, writing, marrying people, or conducting retreats for people who have lost their creative way. Never one to consider boredom an option, she will always have several embroidered art projects on the go. Rubi co-founded Stitch Spectacular with Karin Soderholm, to help bring attention to contemporary hand embroidery.

Notes in Rubi's studio