Artist Statement: Diatoms are single-celled aquatic plants that can only be seen with a microscope. Each species has unique, exquisitely patterned, multilayered cells walls made of silica with two parts that often fit together like a box and a lid. This fiber sculpture is similar to diatoms in the Family Achnanthaceae and is about 10,000 times larger than life.

Materials & Techniques: Materials: Non-fusible stiff interfacing, hand dyed and painted cotton fabric, zeelon (non-woven poly fabric), poly stuffing. Techniques: Openings were cut in the interfacing. The interfacing was covered with fabric, the fabric was cut to face each opening. A middle layer of cotton fabric with raw edge openings was stitched to an underlying layer of painted zeelon punched with small holes using a bookmaking tool. The three layers were stitched together and fabric paint was applied to the surface. An interior pillow-like structure (hand dyed fabric with poly stuffing) was constructed for support and to suggest the green chloroplasts that occur inside a diatom. The two box-like structures were assembled with stitching.

Dimensions: 15 x 27 x 6

Photographer: Carla Stehr