VELGA EASKER
Directions, collage: envelopes, found material, transparency, hand and machine stitched, 20" x 25"

Born in Valmiera, Latvia, Velga Easker grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, earned a BA in Art, University of Iowa, and  recently left full time employment in various human service capacities. She has attended numerous workshops and conferences with a concentrated interest in  fibers and is a founding member and holder of several offices in the Cedar Rapids Fiber Artist Guild. Easker began exploring the potential of using discarded everyday materials in creating collages and assemblages eighteen years ago. She has exhibited throughout the Midwest; involved others in collaborative projects where she has assembled the finished work for exhibition, including at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Marion Arts Festival, All Saints  School, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Francis Marion Intermediate School, Marion, Iowa. Major commissions include 20 works for Mercy Hospitals in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Waverly  Health Center in Waverly, Iowa, and Hotel Pattee, an historic Iowa landmark in Perry, Iowa, which is included  in the book,  Lit By the Sun, the Art and Artists of the Hotel Pattee.

Of her work, Easker writes, "For a number of  years, I have been intrigued by the process of bringing order and new meaning to societal discards by deconstructing and assembling them to create collages and assemblages which have an emphasis on pattern and design. Current work has focused on using materials associated with communication, ie., cancelled postage stamps, envelopes, and received junk mail. I coax and manipulate these materials into images created within the structure of a more traditional art form sometimes incorporating transparent overlays and machine stitching. Admiring the work of resourceful pioneer women who used scraps of fabric and worn out clothing to create beautifully artistic and functional quilts, in these pieces I attempt to echo that early recycling spirit. Layered within these patterns are subtle connections and rhythms which are revealed upon closer inspection. As a child emigre from Latvia, a country with a strong craft tradition, I have enjoyed a bi-cultural existence, which has expanded my vision of the world and taught me not to accept the obvious.  I watched my mother create beautiful ethnic needlework as well as ingenious yet sometimes startling combinations to patch and extend the life of outgrown clothing."

Velga Easker's website