Online Gallery: Excellence in Fibers 2016

By Marcia Young, FiberArtsNow Magazine – January 29, 2017 

The works shown below were not included in the final 2016 Excellence in Fibers group, yet they received very high scores from the jurors.

Sabyna’s piece of work is “Environmental Pleading/ Dead Conversation”.

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Article: “In the galleries: A meeting of lines in art and architecture”

By Mark Jenkins (The Washington Post) – 2014 Fall

Two of the works in “Structures,” a 16-artist show at the Art League, directly invoke the history of sculpture. Josh Band’s “Abstract Female Nude” resembles one of Henry Moore’s large bronzes, while Stacy Cantrell’s “Aphrodite of D.C.” is modeled on the armless ancient-Greek statue often called “Venus de Milo.” But both modify the original material: Band’s not-exactly-hourglass figure is terra cotta, while Cantrell’s near-nude is crocheted. Such playful twists are characteristic of juror Rosemary Luckett’s choices.

There’s not much metal or stone in the lineup, which includes a confetti-like wall piece made from shredded police tape (Sabyna Sterrett’s “Danger, Do Not Enter This Environment”) and a shattered teapot whose shards are fixed in a pool of dried resin (Helen Goodrum’s “Metamorphosis”).

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Article: “Rug Hooking REIMAGINED”

By Trudi Van Dyke (www.fiberartnow.net) – 2014 Spring

Artists who choose fiber as their primary medium continue to combat blasé reactions from collectors and gallery directors. Choose to use a traditional technique with fiber and it gets even more difficult to be taken seriously in the world of contemporary art. But rug-hooking artists are making strides on the trek toward gaining respect. They are expanding their range by fine-tuning techniques, taking risks with fibers, experimenting with color, and combining processes.

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Interview: Q&As: Meet the August Award Winners

By The Art League Gallery – 2013 August

Our popular landscape and sculpture shows, “’Scapes” and “Shapes,” garner entries from many of our talented artists, making competition for a spot on the wall, and a cash prize, that much more tough. Jurors from these two exhibits chose five awards: one recognizing the best sculpture in “Shapes,” and four for “’Scapes.” We asked the artists to tell us a little about their work, below…

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Article: Monkith Saaid Award

By The Art League, Juror Laura Roulet – 2013 August

“Pristine Environment” by Sabyna Sterrett may seem like a surprising choice for best in show. How can an assemblage of white, plastic bags compare to a cast bronze? Yet this “Home Depot” approach to materials is one of the strongest trends in sculpture today. The term “de-skilling” is a puzzling one, but it refers to a conceptual, unorthodox approach to creating sculpture, where the work may be glued, bound or assembled rather than cast or carved. Aside from a sense of design and command of materials, content is the most important component of any work of art. Sterrett’s work seems to have an underlying environmental message, and perhaps a reference to the history of feminist fiber art. It may stand out from the other work, like Marcel Duchamp’s urinal in the 1917 Armory Show, but it similarly points in the direction of the future.

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Art Show: “State of Emergency” at The Art League

By The Art League – 2013 March

And for “State of Emergency,” the solo room has been taken over by textural installations woven from plastic bags, trash bags, and plastic tape. Watch our interview with the artist, Sabyna Sterrett, on YouTube.

During the exhibit, representatives from the Alice Ferguson Foundation will discuss their Trash Free Potomac Watershed initiative, a five-pronged approach to solving regional pollution issues. Join us for their presentation on Thursday, March 21 at 6:30 pm.

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NPR WAMU American University Radio: Art Beat With Lauren Landau

By Art Beat With Lauren Landau – 2013 March

Sabyna Sterrett takes recycling to an artistic level in her State of Emergency exhibit at The Art League Gallery in Alexandria. The collection features repurposed plastic woven into thought-provoking installations, and is on view through April 1.

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Article: Sabyna Sterrett: State of Emergency

By oldtownalexandria.patch.com – 2013 January

Born in the Deep South, Sabyna Sterrett spent her early life listening to Southern storytelling, which eventually became a part of her visual lexicon as an artist. After working as a commercial artist for a publishing company and concentrating on fine art by studying drawing and painting, Sterrett turned her focus to mixed media (woven contemporary fiber art, fabric, found objects).  

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Article: “Found” by The Art League

By The Art League, Juror Jan Baum – 2010 April

Sabyna Sterrett’s ‘Flying Over Moon Lake’ was chosen for Best in Show. Baum particularly liked how Sterrett transformed the use of the material to create a different appeal and texture. The monochromatic color scheme also enhances the overall attraction of the material, making it something more then just the found object. She liked the play on the synthetic material being used to connect to the natural world around us.

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