Art History grad student explores ‘social fibers’ in downtown exhibit

By Madison Ridge Art History Ph.D. candidate and artist Kyle Marini’s traveling exhibition, America’s Social Fibers: Mobility and Migration in the Western Hemisphere Before 1492, will be on display at 3 Dots Downtown, February 8-26. The gallery is located at 137 East Beaver Ave., State College. Marini’s exhibition focuses on the period before 1492, the pivotal year marking sustained contact between the Americas and Europe. He uses fiber arts to recreate historic textiles that featured prominently in the myth-historic migrations and social cohesion efforts of the Aztec and Inca empires. Marini received a B.A. in fine arts and Spanish with minors in sociology and art history from Thiel College before starting his post-graduate studies in art history at Penn State. He received his M.A. in 2021 and is focusing his doctoral studies on the techniques of production and ritual use of textiles in Inca state ceremony. The exhibition includes scaled replicas of “fiber monuments,” culturally significant works that have been largely destroyed by hundreds of years of violent colonization following the arrival of Europeans to the Americas in 1492. Yet, as the exhibition points out, moments of cultural survival exist in the form of fiber arts. For example, many localized weaving techniques flourished under Inca colonialism before the Spaniards’ arrival, and these stylistic variances are often the only way to discern where in the Andes these textiles were produced. “Textiles have been majorly significant for Andean religious practices for millennia, and their importance has not diminished even after hundreds of years of colonization,” Marini explained, noting many of the original geometric symbols and patterns have become difficult to interpret over time.

Some of the pieces in my exhibition directly correlate with migration stories and traditions upheld by these empires." -Kyle Marini

“One piece, an accordion-style folded codex, is a textile made from boiled tree bark pressed into paper that is painted to depict the Aztec migration from their mythical homeland in the North American southwest to present-day Mexico City.” The piece is a historic replica of an actual codex, but it is made with amatl paper that is still produced in San Pablo, Mexico, where an Otomí woman by the name of Edith Trejo made the paper that Marini used as his canvas. Because most of the fabric pieces he has studied did not stand the test of time, Marini said his goal is to use hands-on methods to overcome aspects of colonial erasure by recreating majorly significant textiles in his modern reconstructions. This can rematerialize lost works of major significance as well as illuminate what we know about surviving textiles that have no accompanying context. “One of my pieces, the rope bridge, is a replica of a real bridge that the Q'eswachaka community in Peru remakes every year,” Marini said. “The actual bridge is made from grass and uses the same techniques in its construction that were used by the Incas—bridges like these incorporated distant communities into the Inca Empire, and this bridge still connects this community to the surrounding area.” America’s Social Fibers has migrated across Pennsylvania from the Sans Moco Gallery and Atelier in Greenville to the Borland Building on the University Park campus, and now 3 Dots. It will be on display at the Bellefonte Art Museum March 4–27. Marini had to adopt new approaches to exhibit his work. As an artist formally trained in oil painting and ceramics, textiles were a new medium for him that required patience and training to master. It was also a challenge to secure different locations for the exhibition during the COVID-19 pandemic. He wanted his work to be seen by as many people as possible in a variety of locations, instead of just one isolated spot. “The first venue was right above a coffee shop where I used to work,” said Marini. “The second venue was the Borland Building at Penn State, and the current location is 3 Dots, which is a great community non-profit location that happens to exhibit artwork. I really wanted to choose a spectrum of locations and not solely galleries or museums.” Marini emphasizes accessibility in his work, and especially this exhibition. As an art historian, he is aware that his disciplinary expertise is highly specialized and further complicated by his incorporation of Indigenous language terms. “Rather than write in my specialized art historic vocabulary, I want my writing to be approachable, even with the labels on the walls,” Marini said. “Everything is meant to be digestible for a broad audience, so anyone can walk up off the street to see the show.” 3 Dots Downtown is open to the public Tuesday–Saturday, noon–5 p.m. Photo of installation by Stephanie Swindle Thomas