Ann Vollum V. 2
- Editor at Titan Contemporary Publishing
- Jan 1
- 3 min read
Ann Vollum is a fiber and textile artist who has exhibited extensively in the New Jersey / New York metropolitan area. Recent exhibitions include Paul Robeson Galleries at Rutgers University in Newark, Hunterdon Art Museum in Clinton, Culture Lab and The Painting Center in New York, Art House Productions, Gallery 14C, and Gallery Art 150 Gallery in Jersey City, Leach Gallery, in Montclair, and Watchung Arts Center.
Usually depicting fantastical creatures which she describes as ‘beasties’, Ann Vollum creates intricate tapestries and fiber works based on mystical elements. The actors of children contained within her tapestries are derived from vintage illustration books and retrofitted to recreate Ann’s childhood memories of imaginary beings. These children seemingly frolic and play with smiling dragons as they sometimes sinisterly eat and digest human figures, representing a dichotomy between innocence and the macabre. Ann Vollum’s fiber sculptures typically depict squid and octopi-like entities assembled with felt fiber with the appearance similar to a plush toy with a color schematic reminiscent of hues you would find at the circus. The beastie allegorical tapestries represent both loss of innocence and exploring childhood fantasy. These works in escapism reveal a realm of great magical power as seemingly fragile children seem to have great control at directing menacing dragons with the whim of their interactions.
There are a few tapestries which explore other mythological themes more grounded in reality, such as portrayals reminiscent of Huckleberry Fin, but still containing themes of fantastical dragons. The allegorical tapestries with their intricately gilded stitching are autobiographical in nature and reveals Ann Vollum’s childhood growing up in a restrictive boarding schools and drastic changing environments from Africa to England to the United States from childhood into becoming an adult. This sense of travel and distance from others becomes apparent in these imaginary friends which represent a sense of menacing mythological connotations with dragons and kraken-like entities behaving as a means of entertainment, despite their destructive narrative qualities. The immense detail in the the stitching and integration of mixed media such as handmade fiber frames and plastic rosebuds conveys a multi-disciplinary and multi-media approach to expressing fiber and textiles. These smiling yet disturbing dragons in the illustrations containing helpless bloody victims within the bowels of their belly and mouths reveal a future world not so innocent but presented as playful to children. A deep allegory and symbolism towards the loss of innocence in the complex information age where nothing is as simple as a wholesome theme.
And He Took it All with A Gun! (pictured above) depicts what appears to be a not-so-playful reaction to a dragon. The seemingly docile dragon with a human within his belly lies dead on the floor with a young boy having shot the beast with his rifle. Another dragon flies overhead revealing the boy’s work as a dragon hunter is not done as he traverses this realm of sinister smiling and absurd man-eating dragons.
A deeply fantastical artist, the fiber and installation works of Ann Vollum communicate themes on innocence, reflecting on the past, and the identity of home as well as a sense of adventure. These artworks encourage the viewer to relive their childhood fantasies and explore the hidden symbolism contained in mythological stories which can be revealed as both macabre and entertaining. These fiber and textile works are as joyful as they are disturbing representing a dichotomy between adult-and-childhood. The loss of innocence and attempts to relive a state of guiltlessness reveals a realm of escapism, a fantastical world created by Ann Vollum to have herself and the viewer explore planes of consciousness outside of our present and mortal selves.
