Judy Mulford
biography |
portfolio | artists listing
b. 1938, Los Angeles, California
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Arkansas Arts Center, Decorative Arts Museum, Little Rock, AR
Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, WI
Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Charlotte, NC
Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2006 Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art Exposition, Chicago, IL
Palm Beach 3, Browngrotta Arts, W. Palm Beach, FL
The Vessel (R) evolution, Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA
Basketry: Northwest Connections, Tacoma Community College, WA
2005 Contemporary Baskets, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Third Sculptural Basket Invitational, The American Art Co, Tacoma, WA
Tradition a& Innovation III, NBO Invitational, Lake Tahoe, CA
Magnificent Extravagance- Artists and Opulence, Racine Art Museum,
Racine, WI
2004 Celebrating Nature, Craft & Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA
2003 Planting, Potting and Pruning: Arts and the Cultivated Landscape,
Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, WI
The Power of Women, University of California Santa Barbara Women's
Art Center, Santa Barbara, CA
The Inspired Vessel, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Art
Park, Los Angeles, CA
Baskets Now 2003, Yeiser Art Center, Paducah, KY
2002 Baskets from the Permanent Collection, Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR
Baskets Now: USA, Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR
Sculptural Elements, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA
Fiber Optics: Contemporary Basketry and Knotting, California Northridge
University, Northridge, CA
1997-03 Contemporary Baskets, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2001-04 Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art Exposition, Chicago, IL
2001 Woven Constructions, Craft Alliance, St. Louis, MO
Contemporary Baskets, Juried exhibition, Mesa Arts Center, Mesa, AZ
Once Upon a Time: Artists Examine Fairy Tales, Legends and Myths,
Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, WI
Knot That Small, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2000 Bye Bye: Textile Festival 2000, Utrecht, Holland, touring
1999 The End is Near: Artists Look at the 20th Century, Charles A.
Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, WI
1999-2004 Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art Exposition, New York, N
1998 Woven Forms: Contemporary American Basketry, Haydon Gallery,
Nebraska Art Association, Lincoln, NE
12th International Miniature Textile Biennial, Juried Exhibition, Hungary
Basketry: Other Places, Other Times, Brookfield Craft Center,
Brookfield, CT
1997 New Baskets: Expanding the Concept, Craft Alliance Gallery, St. Louis, MO
Columbia, MO
1995 Old Meets New, Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, WI
Exploring Along The Edges, Craft Alliance Gallery, St. Louis, MO
Knots and Nets: Universal Connections, U.S. and Africa tour
1995-99 Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art Exposition, Chicago, IL
1994 The Aesthetic of Athletics, Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts,
Racine, WI
Basketry Japan ‘94, Tokyo, Japan
1993 Every Object Tells a Story, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
Predictions: Southern California Crafts, Palos Verdes Art Center,
Palos Verdes, CA
1992 Outer Skin/Inner Space, Pro Art, St. Louis, MO
1991 Basketry Spectrum, Rome Art Center, Rome, NY
1990 Fiber Perspectives, Pasadena College, Pasadena, CA
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
2006 Fabulous Woven Jewelery, Lark Books, Sterling Publication
2006 500 Baskets, Lark Books, Sterling Publication, NY
2004 "The Fine Art of Basket Making", "Spirit of Aloha", Flight Magazine
2003 Featured article, The Marshall Islands Journal
Featured article, Coastal View News, Carpinteria, CA
Featured article, Craftarts International, Australia, #59
2002 Profile article, Coastal View News, Carpinteria, CA
2001 Featured artist, Shuttle, Spindle & Dyepot Magazine, Handweavers
Guild of America
2000 "La Opinion", Los AngelesTimes, Los Angeles, CA
Leier, Peters, Wallace, Baskets, Tradition & Beyond, Guild publishing
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Judy Mulford, MA in Art, is a native California basketmaker, teacher and author, who has done textile research throughout Micronesia. She wrote and illustrated Basic Pine Needle Basketry and Decorative Marshallese Baskets and was the founder, organizer and editor of the Los Angeles Basketry Guild for fifteen years. She was also on the board of directors of the National Basketry Organization as Membership Chairperson. Mulford teaches lectures and exhibits her art internationally. Her work appears in many basketry books and publications and is represented in numerous private and public collections.
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
I work with containers because they make me happy. Each piece I create becomes a container of conscious and unconscious thoughts and feelings: a nest, a womb, a secret, a surprise or a giggle. And always a feeling of being in touch with my female ancestral beginnings. My containers contain "Me".
Being a wife, mother and "Nana" have been the most important things in my life. My baskets honor and celebrate the family. I use words a nd images of woman and children because I want to validate the importance of the family and the values and morals it nurtures. My vessels are autobiographical and narrative and are in the scrapbooks of my life.
Throughout history women have found creative time in their lives to make baskets. Knotless netting, the technique I use to cover gourds and molded forms, is an ancient, tedious, continuos thread technique that is used for nets, baskets and button holes and is symbolic of woman's work in the home.
The materials that I use in my pieces include: waxed linen, gourds, Styrofoam (base for some figures), polymer clay, photo transfers, antique buttons, beads, fine silver, pearls, onyx, collected items, pounded tin can lids, charms, nails, metal, dye paint and paper.
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Arkansas Arts Center, Decorative Arts Museum, Little Rock, AR
Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, WI
Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Charlotte, NC
Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2006 Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art Exposition, Chicago, IL
Palm Beach 3, Browngrotta Arts, W. Palm Beach, FL
The Vessel (R) evolution, Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA
Basketry: Northwest Connections, Tacoma Community College, WA
2005 Contemporary Baskets, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Third Sculptural Basket Invitational, The American Art Co, Tacoma, WA
Tradition a& Innovation III, NBO Invitational, Lake Tahoe, CA
Magnificent Extravagance- Artists and Opulence, Racine Art Museum,
Racine, WI
2004 Celebrating Nature, Craft & Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA
2003 Planting, Potting and Pruning: Arts and the Cultivated Landscape,
Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, WI
The Power of Women, University of California Santa Barbara Women's
Art Center, Santa Barbara, CA
The Inspired Vessel, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Art
Park, Los Angeles, CA
Baskets Now 2003, Yeiser Art Center, Paducah, KY
2002 Baskets from the Permanent Collection, Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR
Baskets Now: USA, Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR
Sculptural Elements, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA
Fiber Optics: Contemporary Basketry and Knotting, California Northridge
University, Northridge, CA
1997-03 Contemporary Baskets, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2001-04 Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art Exposition, Chicago, IL
2001 Woven Constructions, Craft Alliance, St. Louis, MO
Contemporary Baskets, Juried exhibition, Mesa Arts Center, Mesa, AZ
Once Upon a Time: Artists Examine Fairy Tales, Legends and Myths,
Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, WI
Knot That Small, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2000 Bye Bye: Textile Festival 2000, Utrecht, Holland, touring
1999 The End is Near: Artists Look at the 20th Century, Charles A.
Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, WI
1999-2004 Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art Exposition, New York, N
1998 Woven Forms: Contemporary American Basketry, Haydon Gallery,
Nebraska Art Association, Lincoln, NE
12th International Miniature Textile Biennial, Juried Exhibition, Hungary
Basketry: Other Places, Other Times, Brookfield Craft Center,
Brookfield, CT
1997 New Baskets: Expanding the Concept, Craft Alliance Gallery, St. Louis, MO
Columbia, MO
1995 Old Meets New, Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, WI
Exploring Along The Edges, Craft Alliance Gallery, St. Louis, MO
Knots and Nets: Universal Connections, U.S. and Africa tour
1995-99 Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art Exposition, Chicago, IL
1994 The Aesthetic of Athletics, Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts,
Racine, WI
Basketry Japan ‘94, Tokyo, Japan
1993 Every Object Tells a Story, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
Predictions: Southern California Crafts, Palos Verdes Art Center,
Palos Verdes, CA
1992 Outer Skin/Inner Space, Pro Art, St. Louis, MO
1991 Basketry Spectrum, Rome Art Center, Rome, NY
1990 Fiber Perspectives, Pasadena College, Pasadena, CA
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
2006 Fabulous Woven Jewelery, Lark Books, Sterling Publication
2006 500 Baskets, Lark Books, Sterling Publication, NY
2004 "The Fine Art of Basket Making", "Spirit of Aloha", Flight Magazine
2003 Featured article, The Marshall Islands Journal
Featured article, Coastal View News, Carpinteria, CA
Featured article, Craftarts International, Australia, #59
2002 Profile article, Coastal View News, Carpinteria, CA
2001 Featured artist, Shuttle, Spindle & Dyepot Magazine, Handweavers
Guild of America
2000 "La Opinion", Los AngelesTimes, Los Angeles, CA
Leier, Peters, Wallace, Baskets, Tradition & Beyond, Guild publishing
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Judy Mulford, MA in Art, is a native California basketmaker, teacher and author, who has done textile research throughout Micronesia. She wrote and illustrated Basic Pine Needle Basketry and Decorative Marshallese Baskets and was the founder, organizer and editor of the Los Angeles Basketry Guild for fifteen years. She was also on the board of directors of the National Basketry Organization as Membership Chairperson. Mulford teaches lectures and exhibits her art internationally. Her work appears in many basketry books and publications and is represented in numerous private and public collections.
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
I work with containers because they make me happy. Each piece I create becomes a container of conscious and unconscious thoughts and feelings: a nest, a womb, a secret, a surprise or a giggle. And always a feeling of being in touch with my female ancestral beginnings. My containers contain "Me".
Being a wife, mother and "Nana" have been the most important things in my life. My baskets honor and celebrate the family. I use words a nd images of woman and children because I want to validate the importance of the family and the values and morals it nurtures. My vessels are autobiographical and narrative and are in the scrapbooks of my life.
Throughout history women have found creative time in their lives to make baskets. Knotless netting, the technique I use to cover gourds and molded forms, is an ancient, tedious, continuos thread technique that is used for nets, baskets and button holes and is symbolic of woman's work in the home.
The materials that I use in my pieces include: waxed linen, gourds, Styrofoam (base for some figures), polymer clay, photo transfers, antique buttons, beads, fine silver, pearls, onyx, collected items, pounded tin can lids, charms, nails, metal, dye paint and paper.