Carol Eckert
Carol Eckert is a fiber sculptor who creates whimsical pieces using coiled fiber, producing works inspired by stories, mythology, and animal symbols. Eckert, in the beginning of her career, worked with different mediums including, painting, ceramics, and drawing, before focusing on fiber sculpting. She was experimental with her work, using different materials and styles she has created vessels, wall pieces, and book forms.
Eckert was born in Chapel Hill, NC, 1945, experimented with textile work, working with embroidery, sewing, quilting, and knotting. She attended Arizona State University where she studied painting. After graduation, she took several jobs working as a substitute teacher until she started working at a community art center teaching painting and drawing and was later reintroduced to fiber. Eckert would eventually move to Tempe, AZ where she began creating her coiled fiber forms and incorporating them into her practice. Inspired by history, fables, myths, and other concepts she reads in books, Eckert uses a needle, an array of colored threads, and coated wire, to create various sized complex and imaginative forms.
Eckert has taught at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts and the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and continues to teach workshops around the United States. Eckert’s work can be found in the collections of the Museum of Arts and Design, NY, the Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, WA, the Museum of Fine Arts, MA, and more.