Judy Bales
- INquire
Enfolding/Opening
Found material: steel, fabric, paint
Art dimensions: 24" x 4.5" x 4" each
$1,000
Enfolded I
Found material: steel, paint
Art dimensions: 23.5" x 6.5" x 4.5"
$400
Enfolded II
Found material: steel, paint
Art dimensions: 25.5" x 3.5" x 5"
$400
Folding and Curving
Found material: steel, fabric, paint
Art dimensions: 18.5" x 14" x 12"
$850
Twisting Tower
Found material: steel, fabric, paint
Art dimensions: 12" x 5" x 4.5"
$125
Curling Grid 01
Found material: steel, fabric, paint
Art dimensions: 6" x 8" x 6"
$125
Twisting Grid 04
Found material: steel, fabric, paint
Art dimensions: 10.5" x 11" x 7"
$125
Tumultuous Neckpiece 1
Stainless steel chain, safety pins, painted beads
$175
Tumultuous Neckpiece 2
Stainless steel chain, safety pins, glass beads
$175
- "Building on 25 years experience as a fiber artist, sculptor, costumer for modern dance and bridge design team member; I create art that is the exciting and improbable marriage of cold industrial materials and the sensuality of nature. I utilize industrial materials, many of which are found, recycled, or salvaged, in an ongoing effort to reveal beauty in unlikely places and stretch conventional notions of what constitutes art.
I received my BFA and MFA degrees from the University of Georgia, majoring in painting as an undergraduate and completing post-graduate work in fiber art. This combination of very distinct even unlike disciplines has served me well and prevents my work from being precisely categorized. While closer to a fiber artist in choice of materials, I approach my art more like an abstract painter, relying on improvisation and painterly techniques rather than the more exacting, controlled approach traditionally favored by fiber artists.
The broad range of my work is clearly unified by a sensibility that asserts the power of an artist to create beauty from anything, and convey that simple but vital truth to an audience. By manipulating materials in ways and for contexts for which they were never intended, whether mangling the precise configuration of a plastic grid or turning a demure thrift shop dress into a cotton-and-steel amalgamation, I embrace creative transformation and a form of subversion that is alluring, whimsical and nourishing to the imagination." - Education
MFA, University of Georgia, 1983
BFA, University of Georgia, 1975
Additional undergraduate work: Auburn University
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2014 Yugen, Museum of Arts and Sciences, Macon, Georgia
2012 Veil at the Vault, site specific installation sponsored by Teeple Hansen Gallery, Fairfield, Iowa
2010 Teeple Hansen Gallery, Fairfield, Iowa
2009 Adams Gallery, Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tennessee
2008 ICON Gallery, Fairfield, Iowa
Mills Gallery, Central College, Pella, Iowa
2007 Lux Center for the Arts, Lincoln, Nebraska
2006 Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Tech University, Smithville, Tennessee
Peter Paul Luce Gallery, Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, Iowa
2002 Larson Art Gallery, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota
1999 Len G. Everett Gallery, Monmouth College, Monmouth, Illinois
Shaw Cramer Gallery, Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts
Selected Group Exhibitions
2017 2017 DUMA Biennial, Dubuque Museum of Art, Dubuque, Iowa
Inciting Rapture, Gilded Pear Gallery, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Two-person exhibition
2016 Divided/Attraction, Gilded Pear Gallery, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received Best in Show
2015 Datzuzoku, ArtFiftyTwo, Fairfield, Iowa
2014 Iowa Crafts, MacNider Art Museum, Mason City, Iowa, Special Mention award
Whimsy, ICON Gallery, Fairfield, Iowa
2012 Art Iowa\Inspired by the Landscape, Old Capitol Museum, Iowa City, Iowa
2009 Synecdoche, Quad City Arts, Rock Island, Iowa. Two person exhibition.
2005 Earth Bound, MacNider Art Museum, Mason City, Iowa. Two person exhibition.
Out of Fashion, Union Art Gallery, University of Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
2004/05 Ready to Wear, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin
2003 Fiber Focus, Art St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
2001 FIBERARTinternational2001, Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
2000 Foundation of a Century, Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, New York
1999 Iowa Artists 1999, Des Moines Art Museum, Des Moines, Iowa
Materials: Hard and Soft, Greater Denton Arts Council, Denton, Texas
1998 Overtones!, Convergence, Atlanta, Georgia
Small Expressions, Atlanta International Museum, Atlanta, Georgia
Surface: New Form/New Function, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, Tennessee
1997 Paper/Fiber XX, Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa Artists ’97, Des Moines Art Museum, Des Moines, Iowa
1995 Vessels, College of New Rochelle, New Rochelle, New York
1994 Wiggles and Spots, Delta State University, Cleveland, Mississippi
1993 The Space Within: Contemporary Basketry in the Midwest, Waterloo Iowa Museum of Art
Paper/Fiber XVI, Iowa City, Iowa
Woven Vessels: Contemporary Baskets, Sheldon Memorial Gallery, Lincoln, Nebraska
1992 Needle Expressions ’92, Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona
Influences>Innovations, Torpedo Factory Art Center, Alexandria, Virginia
Iowa Artists ’92, Des Moines Art Museum, Des Moines, Iowa
1991 Basketry from All Directions, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Multimedia Basketry Invitational, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
Contemporary Crafts, Farrell Collection, Washington, D.C.
1990 The Spirited Touch, Archetype Gallery, New York, New York
Basketweave ’90, Dairy Barn Gallery, Athens, Ohio
Exploring Fiber Traditions, Views Gallery, Manayunk, Pennsylvania
1989 Iowa Artists 1989, Des Moines Art Museum, Des Moines, Iowa
Fast Forward, Gayle Willson Gallery, Southampton, New York
Fiber/Weavings, The Private Collection, Cincinnati, Ohio
Personal Packaging, Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center, Auburn, New York
Small and Curious Objects, Carega Foxley Leach Gallery, Washington, DC
Public Art, Consulting and Residential Commissions
2012 Western Route Trail Enhancements, Fairfield, Iowa
2011 Southern Route Trail Enhancements, Fairfield, Iowa
Sculpture Visions 2011, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, year long temporary public art display
Artstop 2011 Project Spaces, Des Moines, Iowa, temporary public art display
2010 Matkin Plaza, Fairfield, Iowa
Private Residential Commission, Des Moines, Iowa, commissioned through Moberg Gallery
Old US-80 Highway Bridge at Gila River, Maricopa County, Arizona, Aesthetic Consultant.
2008 35th Avenue and Salt River Bridge, Phoenix, Arizona.
Weave-Through, Blue Springs, Missouri
2007-08 Aesthetic Consultant to Cannon TranSystems, Tucson, Arizona.
2007 Jefferson County Trails Council Bridges on the Cedar View Trail, Fairfield, Iowa
2005 Maryland Avenue Bridge Public Art Project, Phoenix, Arizona.
2004 Jefferson County Trails Council Bridge over BNSF Railroad, Fairfield, Iowa
1999 Sculptural commission for Amy O’Deen residence, Iowa City, Iowa
1992 Sculptural commission for Delores Stiles residence, Newport News, Virginia
Finalist Selection: Public Art Competitions
2012 Colorado Pedestrian Bridge, Denver, Colorado
2011 Symphony Lake Bridge, Cary, North Carolina
2008 Davis Road Bridge at Pixley Slough Project, Stockton, California
2007 El Dorado Street Bridge Project, Stockton, California
2006 Ankeny to Woodward Trail Art Project, Ankeny, Iowa
US/64 Pedestrian Greenway Bridge, Cary, North Carolina
2005 SH-102 Bridge Reconstruction over the Turner Turnpike, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Mt. Si Bridge Replacement Project, King County, Washington
Artist Designed Passenger Shelter, Banner Baywood Medical Center, Mesa, Arizona
2003 Los Angeles Fire Station #83, Los Angeles, California
Highway 7 Corridor Public Art Project, Blue Springs, Missouri
Des Moines East Village Storefront Public Art Project, Des Moines, Iowa
Art Wear Events
2015 Omaha Fashion Week, August, 2015
Omaha Fashion Week, March, 2015
EcoJam Fashion Show 2015, Fairfield Convention Center, Fairfield, Iowa
2014 EcoJam Fashion Show 2014, Fairfield Convention Center, Fairfield, Iowa
Splatter to Sparkle, University of Iowa Museum of Art
2013 Fabricate, International Conference for the Surface Design Association, San Antonio, Texas
Serenity, Sondheim Center for the Arts, Fairfield, Iowa
Veil at the Vault, costume performance at opening of installation, Teeple Hansen Gallery, Fairfield, Iowa
2012 Persephone: A Rock Ballet, Sondheim Center, Fairfield, Iowa, 2012
Worlds Collide, Morning Star Studio, Fairfield, Iowa
2011 Brancott Estate World of Wearable Art Awards Show, Wellington, New Zealand
Bodies of Water Runway Show, International Conference of the Surface Design Association
Grants/Awards for Solo and Collaborative Projects
2012 Iowa Arts Council Mini Grant
Challenge America Fast Track Grant (awarded to Jefferson County Trails Council for public art project)
2011 Iowa Arts Council Mini Grant
Iowa Arts Council Mini Grant
2010 Challenge America Fast Track Grant (awarded to Jefferson County Trails Council for public art project)
Iowa Arts Council Mini Grant
Iowa Arts Council Mini Grant
2009 Iowa Arts Council Major Grant (awarded to Jefferson County Trails Council for public art project)
Iowa Arts Council Mini Grant
2008 Iowa Arts Council Major Grant (awarded to Jefferson County Trails Council for public art project)
Iowa Arts Council Mini Grant
Iowa Arts Council Mini Grant
2007 Iowa Arts Council Mini Grant
2006 Arizona Engineering Excellence Grand Award awarded to TranSystems for the Maryland Avenue Pedestrian & Bicycle Bridge Over I-17, Phoenix, Arizona
2006 Challenge America Fast Track Grant (awarded to Jefferson County Trails Council for public art project)
2002 Challenge America Fast Track Grant (awarded to Jefferson County Trails Council for public art project).
1993 Iowa Arts Council Mini Grant
Papers, Presentations and Articles Published
2012 Critical Interventions, Creating Again and Again, Fractal Patterns and Process in Improvisational African American Quilts, No. 9/10, Spring, 2012
2010 Surface Design Journal, Thinking Inside the Box: Infinity Within the Finite Fall, 2010, Volume 35, No 1
2009 Fractal Geometry in African American Quilt Traditions: Presented at the 4th Biennial Symposium of the International Quilt Study Center & Museum: The Global Quilt: Cultural Contexts, Lincoln, Nebraska
2008 ICON Gallery Odd Thursday Presentation on fractal geometry and quilts of Rosie Lee Tompkins
2007 ICON Gallery Odd Thursday Powerpoint presentation introducing African American quilt research
2007 Symposium Paper on the Maryland Avenue Pedestrian & Bicycle Bridge by Jerry A. Cannon, Dave Peterson & Judy Bales, presented at the 46th IEEE Conference, New Orleans, LA, USA 2007
Selected reviews or photos published
Obscurae, September, 2015
Mystica, September, 2015
Scorpio Jin Magazine, Volume One
Surface Design Journal, Fall, 2009, Volume 34, No 1
The Big Fish: Consciousness as Structure, Body and Space, by Anna Bonshek, Rodopi, 2007
Surface Design Journal, Informed Source, Spring 2005, Volume 29
Fiberarts Design Book Seven, Lark Books, 2004
Ornament, Vol. 27, No. 2, 2003/04
Fiberarts Design Book Six, Lark Books, 1999
American Craft Magazine, Gallery, February/March, 1999
Fiberarts, New Works, September/October, 1997
American Craft Magazine, Gallery, December/January, 1995
American Craft Magazine, Portfolio, December/January, 1993
American Craft Magazine, Gallery, October/November, 1990
Visiting Artist Presentations and Residencies
1999-2012 Macon Museum of Arts and Sciences, Macon, Georgia
Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, Georgia
Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tennessee
University of Wisconsin, River Falls, Wisconsin
Monmouth College, Monmouth Illinois
American Trails Symposium, Davenport, Iowa
Iowa: Central College, Cornell College, Mt. Mercy College and Maharishi University of Management.
1989 Resident Artist, Artpark, Lewiston, New York
