Dia Bassett

Lives and works in Boise, ID, USA

Artist statement

Sheared discarded textiles become geometric and anthropomorphic forms in my study of the female body as object, extension of nature, creature, alien, creator, womb, mother, and sexual being. These explorations are fleshed out in activations I initiate using fiber, clothing or my body, taking form as site-specific installations, sculptures, performances, and wearable art. During my installation process, I test the fabric’s boundaries through physical manipulation— stretching, wrapping, drooping, and hanging fragments. When performing, I enmesh my body in voluminous material or allow tiny tendrils falling over my skin to respond to my movement. As I engage in translating the complex relationships between seemingly mundane materials and our bodies, I work to transform these malleable materials recognizable within the everyday domestic sphere: linens, thread, and worn clothing, among others, while envisioning their past stories. Being sourced from my own collection and from family and friends, the fabrics are imbued with history and personal meaning, linking them with time, movement, and memory. Experimenting with fabrics in varying degrees of density, I see the irregularities and imperfections that share fiber's duality of vulnerability and strength--loose weaves beside tight ones, and hanging fibers or unruly crochet loops tumbling from small and refined circles. Through this approach to craft, I center a series of material and technique contrasts in my work: the steady vs...

Artwork