“Chris Motley has taken the craft of knitting and elevated the process into the realm of contemporary sculpture. Reminiscent of the natural world, her biomorphic forms delight us with their surprising marriage of humble materials and sophisticated conceptualization.”
My art is an exploration of texture, color and dimension, for which I use the infinite possibilities of hand knitting, with fulling, to create sculptural forms. Recently I have added the knitting of wire to expand my technique.
These works may reflect a mood, an emotion, an ideas or societal condition. Fiber is a wonderfully dynamic medium. Free from any notion of patterns but armed with a lifetime of technique, I let the work evolve as it will.
The process of knitting is also instrumental as a driving force in my art. From this meditative process, a design can emerge as I knit; I push the boundaries of the stitches to translate an image or concept from my imagination or the real world into fiber.
In most of my current sculptural projects I develop the final works from smaller knit and fulled pieces. As life itself develops from phases and segments of time, these works emerge as I knit and explore.
Melissa Stern, Editor’s Notes, Posit Journal 2015