I have always been deeply connected to fabrics and handcrafts as a medium and method of expression. I grew up in a family rich in traditions of tailoring, embroidery, crochet, knitting and quilting. Although early on in my artistic arch I experimented with more traditional plastic arts, my heart and art, lie in the handcrafts. It is when creating with these age-old techniques that my soul is happy, while my hands access a muscle-memory to sculpt dimensional, figurative forms.

Initially, for inspiration, I was drawn to the natural world. I sought to capture small vignettes and fool the viewer into believing these were anything but fabric – an agave whose leaves would never rot, a monarch cocooned never to spread its wings, an uprooted lily in full-bloom... While these pieces were delicate, they were forged in a "heated" tug-of-war that literally melted the fibers into submission.

Then, in 2014, after receiving a disturbing diagnosis of breast cancer, I went quiet. My body was mutating. As a result, my artistic "voice" was learning a new language. When I emerged after treatment my internal conversations had shifted from the exterior world to an intimate, evolving conversation about beauty and its power, a power held by all women of all shapes. The beauty of strength pulls us through tragedies. The beauty of deep connections fertilizes our growth. The beauty of nurturing weaves through each generation and binds us all together.

I am currently working with two distinct themes. The first, "Waltzing with the Red Devil" is pulled straight from the strength needed to endure a year plus of "modern-barbaric" treatment that leaves you older than your years with a life-time of follow-ups. The second, "Herstory" concerns the experiences and teachings ushered by the women of our "tribes" and passed through each generation. My works are deeply layered with hopes, fears, conversations... all of which combine to form patterns that shift in and out of view, much like the textures that form our lives.

www.textileartistmx.com

Wendy Moyer

Education: BA, Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, 1992

Exhibitions:

2022: Exposición Voluntad en Movimiento, Senado de la Republica
2020: WOW – World of WearableArtTM, New Zealand, "Something Fishy: A
Man-Eater Double Feature" awarded the Sustainability Award
2018: WOW – World of WearableArtTM, New Zealand, "Something Fishy: A
Man-Eater Double Feature" awarded the Sustainability Award
2016: WOW – World of WearableArtTM, New Zealand, "Hope for the Breast"
exhibited
2014-2018: WOW – World of WearableArtTM Exhibition World Tour
Auckland Museum, Auckland, Zew Zealand
Perc Tucker Regional Gallery | Townsville, Australia Bernice Pauahi
Bishop Museum | Honolulu, Hawaii, USA EMP Museum | Seattle,
WA, USA Peabody Essex Museum | Salem, MA, USA
Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, CO, USA
Erarta Meseum, St Petersburg, Russia
2012: World of WearableArtTM, New Zealand, "aBRAcalypse Now" awarded
Runner Up for the WETA Award
2012: Magenta Gallery, Group Show, San Miguel de Allende, MX
2011: Infinity Art Gallery, Political and Social Art Exhibit 2nd Place for El
Árbol de las Lamentaciones (The Wailing Tree)
2011-2013: Off the Wall, WOWTM exhibit New Zealand museum tour
2011: World Textile Art Organization 11th Biennial of Contemporary Textile
Art, Recyclability Salon, Museo Centro de las Artes de San Agustín,
Oaxaca, Mexico
2010: World of WearableArtTM, New Zealand, "Prickly Heat" awarded
Commended World of WearableArtTM & Classic Car Museum Bizarre Bra®
Section
2010: Projekt 30 Exhibition 2010: Upstream People Gallery
2010: Oasis, San Miguel de Allende, MX
Permanent Collections:
The Huberman Collection
World of WearableArtTM Historic Collection

Critical Praise

"This cheeky iguana cups and captures the spirit of the Mayan legend. A
fantastic take on the bizarre bra."
– Sir Richard Taylor, WETA Workshop Founder & judge for World of
WearableArtTM, regarding "aBRAcalypse Now"

"Wendy Moyer shows textile art in a professional manner. Perhaps most
successful is her piece "Flor de la Noche" with the black behind the night
flower strengthening the subject. The hand stitching adds a nice touch to the
simple and direct statement."
    – Laurence Bradshaw, Professor of Art, University of Nebraska Omaha,
Upstream People Gallery

"El Árbol de las Lamentaciones (The Wailing Tree) – The thorns of a cactus
tree are brutal, painful to remove, and leave long lasting scars. Wendy
Moyer masterfully creates in a simple, yet powerful form, the disturbing
representation of the brutality and abuse these women suffer. Even with the
reminder of the womens' beauty (the flowers) and their undamaged life
before (the garments), you are still left with the everlasting and painful image
of the torn bodies and psyches of these women. The "familiar image" of
these rape trees along the borders of our countries, is appalling-they stand
as trophies of indifference and disdain."
    – Julie Weismann, Infinity Art Gallery

"Ms. Moyer took a lifetime of learning from generations of artisans in her
family and turned it into an award-winning garment, taking the Commended
Award in the World of WearableArtTM and Classic Cars Bizarre Bra®
Section. Moyer's entry, "Prickly Heat", plays on the nurturing bosom of
motherhood by creating a cacti-covered garment alluringly coloured and
flowering, but adorned with sharp barbs. Using recycled clothing to cut the
shapes needed for her garment, Moyer's history is as colourful and
abundant as her concept of Mother Nature's "nourishing breasts". Her own
creativity was nourished by a family of seamstresses, painters and artists,
and her transition from artist to designer is a story essence of the Montana
WOW® Awards."
    – Excerpt from World of WearableArtTM Winners 2010 press release

Wendy Moyer has won various prizes in the international competition, World of Wearable Art (WOW); and is the only artist from Mexico whose works have been select to be in WOW held in New Zealand annually.