December 8, 2006 through January 2, 2006

Boundaries and Stems are two installations that explore the relationship between silk and skin.  The opaqueness and transparency of “Boundaries” are reminiscent of living membrane or tissue covered in welts and small growths.  This installation is an examination of fiber’s potential to stretch and droop in response to its surrounding environment.  Each “welt” is authentic in its size, coloration, and shape, vulnerable to light and temperature.  Warm colors and drooping shapes are evocative of human bodies that breathe and sway in response to human contact.  “Stems” are humorous phallic forms that examine the human body and its connection to the plant world.  Their intricate surfaces address the nature of human and non-human skin that constantly grows and transforms reflecting time’s toll.

“Boundaries” at Fe Gallery, Spring 2005

Artist Bio: Anna Divinsky

Anna Divinsky is a fiber artist from Pittsburgh, PA.  She has received a BA in Studio Arts and Art History from The University of Pittsburgh and an MFA in Printmaking from the Pennsylvania State University where she currently works as an online art course author and instructor.  She also teaches studio art at the University of Pittsburgh and Pre-College Saturday Art Program at Carnegie Mellon University.  In her work, Divinsky explores the relationship between body, nature, and fiber.  She uses silk as well as other fiber materials to create interactive textiles that invite the viewers to touch and observe the work on an intimate level.  Divinsky visualizes fiber as an equivalent to skin which she molds and stretches, challenging its function and meaning.  While history and process of textiles are a crucial aspect of Divinsky’s pieces, human flesh, organic forms, and living organisms fuel the artist’s imagination. 

Divinsky is an active participant in the local art scene, exhibiting in over a dozen shows in the past year and receiving multiple reviews in the local newspapers.  She is a member of Group A, Associated Artists of Pittsburgh and The Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh.  She will be curating the membership exhibition for the Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh titled “Vessel” which will take place at the Brew House in the spring of 2007 in conjunction with the Fiberarts International. 

Currently Divinsky has work in “Interior/Exterior” exhibition presented by Pittsburgh Print Group at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.  Her solo show “Papilla” will open in May at the Chatham College Art Gallery.  Divinsky’s prints and paintings can be found in the permanent flat files of Digging Pitt Gallery.