'Made for Walking' rug exhibit opens Tuesday

Grace Eckert's "Made for Walking" one-of-a-kind-rugs exhibit will open Tuesday.

The hangings in the exhibition are hand-tufted, loop-pile textiles that could function either as rugs or wall hangings and are created by Eckert, a fiber-studio instructor at the University of Tennessee at Martin and VTA Gallery coordinator, according to a news release from Southeast Missouri State University. Her work reflects a love of color, surface and textures. Her fiber pieces may be found in personal and public collections in the United States, England and Wales and in many fibers-related publications.

Born in Illinois, Eckert left home in 1970 and first exhibited and sold paintings in 1973 while living in Australia, the release states. She returned to the United States to earn a bachelor of fine arts degree with emphasis in painting from Illinois State University in 1977.

Grace Eckert (Submitted photo)

Some of her early works are altered self-portraits in which she posed as a figure in various famous art works. The idea was to transform herself from model into artist and explore women's roles, the release stated. Back when she still felt a need to prove she could paint "properly," she made a series of large, photo-realistic "sleeping" self-portraits. She began hand-weaving her own paint supports in 1978.

For most of 1970 to 1990, Eckert lived overseas, always working as an artist. At one point, her paint ran out, and art supplies could not be purchased locally. This led her to explore ways of constructing both surfaces and images from torn strips of printed fabric, which were abundant, the release stated. Tapestry weaving such pieces was difficult, but in that slow process, she found her voice. Since then, she has not used painting as a sole form of expression, although she has painted on some of her handmade textiles and used watercolor in her diaries.

In 1979, she settled in England and abandoned the torn cloth for dyed wool yarn, greatly appreciating its depth of color and durability for hand-woven tapestries, the release stated.

Eckert's tapestry work was exhibited widely in England, and she was awarded numerous sponsored artists' residencies and public commissions. By 1987, when she had completed 80 hand-woven tapestry wall hangings, she began experimenting with hand-tufted, loop-pile textiles that could function either as rugs or wall hangings, according to the release. Her tapestries and hand-tufted pieces are in many collections, including in London's Victoria and Albert Museum. In 1988, she was presented to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother on the unveiling of her triptych, "Earth, Sea, Sky" at Paddington St. Mary's Hospital in London.

Two years later, she returned to the United States and focused on hand tufting. She says this technique still excites her, and she has designed, made, exhibited and sold hundreds of one-of-a-kind tufted-fiber pieces, the release stated. In 2005, she moved to Tennessee as artist-in-residence at the University of Tennessee in Martin and has taught weaving and fibers there since 2006. In 2008, she designed and built a private studio/residence in Paris, Tennessee, where she makes tapestries and rugs, plus one-of-a-kind knitted and loom-woven pieces.

The exhibit will be on display from Tuesday through Nov. 15 in the Dobbins River Campus Center Hallway Gallery at Southeast Missouri State University. The gallery is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Pertinent address:

518 S. Fountain St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.