The Departments of Craft/Material Studies and Art Education present, “a sky you can’t see: A Hood as Ornamentation and Otherness,” a visiting artist lecture by
Nastassja Swift (BFA ’15)
Thursday, February 6th at 5 PM
Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University
601 W Broad St, Richmond, VA 23220
In this multi-layered conversation, artist Nastassja Swift (B.F.A ‘15) frames her recent research of hoods and varying head coverings through documented perceptions around these garments across place, time, class, race, and religion. Connecting material and dress to the reinforcement of inferiority and superiority, Nastassja shares how her understanding has informed a new body of work. “a sky you can’t see” is an ongoing project – utilizing research, storytelling, printmaking, fiber, and sculpture – that will unfold into a six-character fiber series.
This research was supported by a Craft Research Fund grant from the Center for Craft.
Nastassja invites lecture attendees to wear their favorite hooded garment.
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Nastassja Swift is a multi-disciplinary artist redefining her use of portraiture through wool to create work that speaks to geographical histories, ancestry, ritual practices, and community. She is a Virginia Commonwealth University alum, holding a BFA in Painting and Printmaking, and Craft and Material Studies. Most recently, Nastassja was selected as the 2024 Textile Society of America Brandford/Elliott Awardee. She is a 2023 recipient of the Center for Craft: Craft Research Fund Artist Fellowship, a VMFA Fellowship, a Dr. Doris Derby Award, an Art Matters Fellowship Award, the inaugural Black Box Press Foundation Art as Activism Grant, a Virginia Commission of the Arts Fellowship, and was nominated for the 2024 Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellowship. In 2022, she was invited as a Distinguished Fellow at the Penland School of Craft, and shortly after, was selected for a Public Arts Commission in Richmond, VA, her first large-scale public art project.
