Tool Dictionary, 1987
Handmade Paper and Hardware, 17" x 32" x 3"
Colleen Barry was born in 1951 in Holland, MI. She earned a B.A. in weaving and sculpture from California State University at Chico in 1973 and an M.F.A. in weaving and textile design from Edinboro State University, Pennsylvania, in 1980. She has taught papermaking and fiber classes at California State University and in work-shops throughout California. Barry's work has been exhibited in museums and art centers throughout the United States, including the Fresno Art Center and Museum, California, the Palo Alto Cultural Arts Center, California, and Texas Christian University, Fort Worth. She has completed several large-scale public commissions, including installations for the Hall of Justice Building, Redwing, California, and the Municipal Court, Sacramento, California. The artist makes mixed-media pieces she describes as books, embedding found objects, such as rusted nails, zippers, broken pencils, and old buttons, within soft-hued, textured handmade paper. By juxtaposing the organic and the industrial, Barry comments on the relationship between urban society and the natural environment.
*Excerpted from Tools as Art: The Hechinger Collection, published by Harry N. Abrams Inc.