Mary Borkowski

Mary Borkowski (March 28, 1916 – March 9, 2008) was an American fiber artist.[1] She was nationally recognized as a folk artist for her innovation of the fabric and thread art.[2]

Mary Borkowski

Biography

Born as Mary Catherine Porter on March 28, 1916, in Sulphur Lick Springs, near Chillicothe, Ohio, Mary Borkowski was the daughter of Joseph Porter and his wife Rena Hennes. She graduated from the Stiver High School. She spent much of her life in Dayton, Ohio and started quilting in 1930. She never had a formal training on art but learned quilting from her mother and grandmother.[3][2][4] She later made thread paintings, using her own technique.[5]

Her thread paintings, an artist practice from traditional quilting to a new genre in which works are created on silk, felt or velvet backgrounds with silk thread and yarn.[3][2][6] She first made layering materials including canvas, and muslin, and then drawing on several art practices.

Her works are included in the collections of the Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio, American Folk Art Museum, New York City, the Smithsonian Institution, the Presidential Libraries of Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon, the Dayton Art Institute, the American Visionary Art Museum and Sinclair Community College.[2][5]

Her works reflected her own life experiences.[2][5] Some of her works include The Art Thief (1977), Depression Kids (1978), Greek Heritage (1982), and We are One, or Mother of Us All (1991).[7]

She died on March 9, 2008, in Dayton, Ohio, at the age of 91.[5]

References
  1. Johnson, Jay (1983). American Folk Art of the Twentieth Century. New York City: Rizzoli. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-847-80503-7. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  2. Wertkin, Gerard C. (August 2, 2004). Encyclopedia of American Folk Art. Oxon: Routledge. p. 61. ISBN 978-1-135-95614-1. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  3. "Dayton Ohio - Visions and Dreams: Threaded Works by Mary Borkowski". daytonlocal.com. Dayton local. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  4. Rosenak, Chuck (1990). Museum of American Folk Art Encyclopedia of Twentieth-century American Folk Art and Artists. New York City: Abbeville Press. p. 60. ISBN 978-1-558-59041-0. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  5. Sellen, Betty-Carol (January 27, 2016). Self-Taught, Outsider and Folk Art: A Guide to American Artists, Locations and Resources, 3d ed. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-786-47585-8. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  6. Sims, Martha (October 31, 2011). Living Folklore, 2nd Edition: An Introduction to the Study of People and Their Traditions. Denver, Colorado: Utah State University Press. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-874-21844-2. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  7. "Works of Mary Borkowski". daytonart.emuseum.com. Dayton Art Institute. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
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