Billie Zangewa did not plan to become a textile artist. Her degree was in printmaking. When she returned to Botswana after art school, she had no access to printmaking facilities. A friend had given her some silk from her grandmother’s trunk. That is how it started.
She says she was enticed by the silk, that she wanted to discover its secrets. What she found, working with it over the years that followed, was a medium that turned out to fit exactly what she needed to say.
I related to this as soon as I discovered it, at a Museum of African Diaspora (MoAD) exhibit I reviewed for Sartle several years back.
The full account of Billie Zangewa’s practice, what she makes, what her story holds for fiber artists navigating their own creative lives, and the ideas of bell hooks that illuminate why her work matters beyond the gallery, continues below for paid subscribers. Remember that this work takes work. Support it if you can.
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