Christy Caravaglio is a fiber artist living in Kent, WA. Her designs are inspired by traditional and contemporary quilt designs as well as an artistic sense of pattern and color. These are informed by her active practices in quilting and knitting as well as her previous career as a graphic and textile artist. She likes to create little moments of surprise and joy for people’s everyday lives.
Artist Statement, short
I want to provide moments of surprise and joy. Yarn is so familiar to us indoors and chain link fence is so familiar to us outdoors. Combining them disrupts the ordinary. I add color and pattern to the streets to create a feeling that we are living here together. Our shared spaces can be cozy and warm and cared for just as our private spaces are.
Artist Statement, long
The goal of my work is to brighten up our neighborhoods with color and pattern. I use yarn which is usually found in the domestic arts and take it outside. The soft, colorful yarn contrasts with the hard, gray chain link fences and shows care and love for the place in which we live. I like to cause people to see their familiar environment in new ways, creating moments of surprise and joy.
Art in public spaces is for everyone. My designs are geometric and colorful, inspired by textile design, both old and new, quilting and knitting. I use traditional patterns and the structure of chain link to create something new and interesting. Colorful geometric designs appear all over the world. They are very human and broadly accessible.
Yarn too, feels human and intimate, a material with which we’re all well acquainted. I enjoy the process of making, the feel of yarn in my hands, the gradual growth of something made by hand. An important element of my installation work is that I create it in person on-site. It is meditative to hear the sounds, feel the sun, smell the air where I am placing my art. Not less important is the opportunity to meet the people who walk or drive by. I can really feel the community building aspect of public art in those interactions. While sewing into a fence, I feel a connection to the community.
Artist Bio
Christy Caravaglio is a fiber artist living in Kent, WA. She grew up in New York State and received a bachelor of fine arts from Alfred University. She worked as a graphic artist for ten years while practicing a lifelong interest in fiber arts (quilting, knitting, stitching.) After becoming a mother, she worked for ten years as a teaching artist and program coordinator in her local elementary schools.
Christy’s current yarn installation work blends her past experiences. Inspired by textile art and crafting, she creates yarn installations on chain link fences where public art sparks community development. Christy has received grants and commissions from 4Culture and the cities of Burien, Tukwila, Renton, Auburn, and Seattle.