17 May Weaving Our World

Torri Hanna weaves and stitches a world view.

Art can bring delight and offer beauty. It can also spark a deeper understanding of the world and be a catalyst for change. An exhibit of weaving and stitchery by fiber artist Torri Hanna will be featured at Ripple River Gallery near Bay Lake from May 18 through June 12. The gallery invites the public to meet the artist at a reception on Sunday, May 22, from 1 to 4 p.m.

Torri Hanna has deep roots in rural Minnesota. Surrounded by boxes and bins of yarn and looms of all shapes and sizes, she weaves and stitches at Tangles to Treasures, her studio in Fergus Falls. Hanna’s recent work focuses on the topics of climate change and social justice. Intricate miniature embroideries are fantastical abstract landscapes inspired by topographical maps and satellite pictures, and invite closer inspection. 

Hanna’s latest series, “Bad Badges,” is intended to spark discussion about climate change. Intricate embroidery backed by circular mirrors include the viewer as both the cause and the solution to this urgent problem. “As an artist and a woman who lives in this world, I feel compelled to make work pertaining to climate change and social equity,” Hanna says, adding, “Often, though, I merely create to express the joy and beauty I see around me.”

Employing a variety of fiber techniques, Hanna uses hand spun yarns, knit, crochet, braid and surface embellishment to create visually rich and textural surfaces. She also weaves with silk and copper wire, then stitches the fabric into sculptural waves of color and light. “I am a weaver with a wide interest in creating form with fiber. I often use fine copper wire to create a woven structure which can be bent and formed into sculptural wall hangings that attempt to break free of the constraint often connected with fiber art as being ‘a piece of cloth hanging on the wall’. In these abstract wall sculptures, I can play and, perhaps in the process, pass on joy and even some hope that we will survive the current assault on our women and our Mother Earth.”