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This multimedia work by Bayda Asbridge is among the pieces in “The Silk Road” exhibit on display at the Lamar Soutter Library through May and June 2015. |
Educator, multicultural advocate and multimedia artist Bayda Asbridge is the Lamar Soutter Library’s next Artist in Residence. Her exhibit of fiber and brush painted works entitled “The Silk Road” will be on display in the library from Friday, May 1, through Tuesday, June 30.
Asbridge comes by the international influences in her art honestly: she was born in Syria, raised in Kuwait, educated in Syria and Vermont, and resided for many years in England, where she taught Arab culture and English as a Second Language. When she took up Japanese Saori weaving in 2012, she felt that her life and art had come full circle as a woman whose culture is famous for its textiles and crafts, and fiber art has since become her principal form of artistic expression.
A lifelong artist and art student, Asbridge has explored various media and forms including basic drawing, figure drawing, painting, pottery, crafts, calligraphy, sculpture, print making, origami, papermaking, photography, collage, mixed media and Chinese Brush painting. But it wasn’t until after she moved to Worcester in 2007 that Asbridge focused on the fiber and brush painting techniques showcased in “The Silk Road.”
“The exhibit encompasses a multitude of my artistic skills, displays the many mediums I work with, and reflects my stance on social and political matters,” said Asbridge. “My hope is that these exhibits can make some change in our society, no matter how small or large, and a shift in the thinking of future generations.”
In 2014 Asbridge launched a new initiative called Healing Fibers as a platform for herself and other artists to raise awareness of social, political and environmental issues through their art. Their 2014 exhibit addressed violence against women, and for 2015 they will focus on war and peace.
In addition to creating her own art and collaborating with other artists, Asbridge teaches at the Worcester Art Museum, is an Arabic-English interpreter for UMass Memorial Medical Center and teaches English as a Second Language to adults.
An opening reception, with the artist demonstrating Chinese brush painting, will take place in the library on Monday, May 4, at 5 p.m.
