Observations: Two Decades of Change
On view in the Rose Berry Alaska Art Gallery
August 15, 2026 - January 10, 2027
Alaskan artist Ree Nancarrow creates art quilts that incorporate personally created fabrics with surface design techniques that have evolved over her long creative career. Her works vary from representational to abstract, seeking to depict the character of a place or life form found in an environment rather than portraying specific places in the world.
Her art quilts draw imagery from a lifetime of experience drawing, photographing, silk-screening, stenciling, stamping, painting, and dyeing fabric. Working intuitively, she digitally designs her fabrics, creating the patterns, textures and colors which have become unique hallmarks of her work. The elaborately quilted surfaces, which enhance her multi-layered imagery, are done by hand.
Embers by Ree Nancarrow.
She describes the world as one in constant change as she considers not only the traditional changing of seasons, but also the effects of global warming as observed through erosion, forest fires, and other environmental events. These subjects, often informed by working closely with scientists, are central to her artistic expression.
Ground Cover with Gold by Ree Nancarrow.
Habitat Loss, Plumage Mismatch by Ree Nancarrow.
Ree has recently turned to artist books as a medium for expressing environmental change. Using her personal fabrics within foldable book structures has provided the opportunity to explore the expression of her ideas within 3-dimensional forms whose sequenced images imply the passage of time.
Winter Mountains by Ree Nancarrow.