Friday, November 12 | 7:30PM – 9:30PM
Saturday, November 13 | 4PM – 6PM

“Microbes are omnipresent. Let us look slowly, together.” – Rachel Hefferan

[salonlb.] is thrilled to announce Fermented Fiber, a Guided Art + Virtue Cider Tasting event led by Michigan-based weaver Rachel Hefferan. Join us Friday, November 12, 7:30PM – 9:30PM or Saturday, November 13, 4:00PM – 6:00PM as Hefferan takes guests on a journey through her practice, pairing the unique notes found in Virtue Ciders with the visual metaphors woven into her art.

Rachel Hefferan is an artist and fermentation lover working to heighten the beauty, complexity, and necessity of microbial life. These tiny lives that came before us, exist within us, and facilitate the recycling of all basic structures in our world, deserve to be celebrated. Rachel is also an active homesteader & environmentalist. On her property she cares for sheep, goats, chickens, bees, and a large garden. Her life and artistic practice continually cross pollinate, exchanging influences between home and studio practice. As a weaver, Rachel views the loom as a tool for discovery and play; she structures her approach to making with science practices that allow for constant revision and learning. Hand spinning, crochet, natural dyes, recycled mill ends or discarded yarns, are all important parts of her studio practice.

“Hefferan’s work focuses on enlarging and enhancing the microscopic—in particular, that of the microorganism in chemistry and biology. Her larger-than-life weaving, Saccharomyces, is indicative of her body of work as a whole. The scale of this piece invites you to view it from multiple perspectives. Looking it at from afar you can see the totality of the work, while getting up close and personal with it enables you to see much more deeply into the intricacy and liveliness of the microorganism Hefferan has woven. By drawing near, you are able to not only analyze the parts of microorganism, but the materiality of the weaving itself, thus fostering an engagement with the practice of weaving and the physical materials used. Combining this multitude of perspectival points with the sheer scale of the work, Saccharomyces is a calling to the infinite use of material in the microbial world.

– Amanda Mendelsohn
[salonlb.] Gallery Assistant, SAIC Art History MFA Candidate

About [salonlb.]:
[salonlb.] is a multidisciplinary exhibition space and forum designed to engage critically with the arts, supporting emerging and mid-career artists, with an emphasis on sculpture, mixed-media, and contemporary craft.
salonlb.com

About Virtue Cider:
PROPER FARMHOUSE CIDER
A seemingly simple drink; apples plus time. At Virtue Cider, we know that it is a bit more complex. Proper farmhouse cider is a style tied to provenance and process. Because proper farmhouse cider needs traditional craftsmanship learned from faraway lands combined with sustainable methods. Proper farmhouse cider needs a blend of the finest apples, grown in orchards with just the right climate. Proper cider needs hand-picked apples, barrels, and cidermakers with a ton of patience. Because like all good things in life, proper cider needs time. They say patience is a Virtue, it just so happens that Virtue requires patience. Virtue, it’s at our core.
VirtueCider.com

Official Website

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Tags: Bridgeport, Chicago, Fermented Fiber: Art + Cider Tasting with Rachel Hefferan and Virtue Cider, Rachel Hefferan, salonlb.