As Abby Ausherman delves into a new medium in her art, she draws from something familiar. It’s something we all have, whether by blood or by bond — something simple in concept, but complex in nature. Abby brought her family — and the love and memories that come with it — to life in her newest exhibit.
“The hardest thing for me was actually getting into 3D art because I always consider myself a two-dimensional artist,” Abby said. “Like I felt confident drawing, painting, printmaking, but then people were like, ‘Well, what if there was a backside?’”
Abby is an art teacher at Wichita State but is also finishing up her master of fine arts degree. In her thesis exhibit at The Lux, Abby uses fabrics to create abstract pieces that represent various forms of feeling around family.
“I came here originally with an emphasis in printmaking — I’m still printmaking — but it’s definitely evolved a lot,” Abby said. “And the reason why I chose fiber is because it just, it really translates well to the maintenance and care and comfort that comes with relationships.”
Abby, however, did not start with fabrics as her medium to portray these familial relationships. At the beginning, she photographed her family members, but somewhere through the process, she decided, “This is way too personal.”
She felt that using photos of her own family members would create a disconnect between the art and the viewers because her family is not their family. So she went in a more abstract direction with fabrics, focusing on pieces of family that more people would be able to connect with. Part of that is using old scraps of fabric, such as shirts and old quilts. Another piece is filling the mind with familiar sensations.
“Fibers is definitely a little bit more welcoming to (touch), partially because we are touching it every day of our lives,” Abby said. “I love it because it is any sort of wear and tear it gets from that is actually kind of part of it.”
Abby’s mother, Kayann Ausherman, is a mixed media artist who utilizes various 3D and 2D mediums spliced together.
“I enjoyed being experimental in my artmaking and trying lots of different things,” Kayann said.
Kayann said she started her art shortly before Abby got into art in high school. When Abby wanted to explore the medium of fabrics, Kayann said there were a lot of conversations about exploring 3D art since Kayann had some experience in mixed media art. Kayann said she had a limited amount of knowledge because fabrics were “not something (she) had done before.”
The focus of the art installation is family, and Kayann, being Abby’s mother, found it interesting to see the interpretations of her in art form.
“Looking at the family dynamics and relationships and seeing her take on it, her expression of it … representing me,” Kayann said.
Going into the future, Abby wants to further explore different 3D mediums in art, but she won’t leave her roots in 2D art.
“I’d really like to explore a little bit more,” Abby said. “I only did a touch of printmaking on fabric, but I really want to try and merge the two more than I have done. So that’s my goal.”
