Abstract

This research is designed to investigate the possibility that contemporary Danish fiber art communicates expressive meaning for the artists who create it and the patrons who support it. A series of interviews with Danish artists and patrons about forty-five fiber art works reveals eleven expressive qualities often discussed during interpretation. For this study, artistic expression is defined as the communication of ideas and feelings in a work of art and meaning is the cognitive and emotional content of the work carried via expressive qualities. ;This investigation overviews contemporary Danish fiber art, reviews the literature, and defines a fieldwork methodology for testing the research hypothesis. Data from the interviews is presented with a discussion of how the art works of investigation communicate meaning via expressive qualities. Several expression theories are presented together with a discussion of their ramifications for fiber art. Although the meaning of the art works investigated was found to be complex, encompassing a diversity of interpretations, it is concluded that through interpretation, meaning is revealed. In the process, the artifacts are given attention that brings out their expressive qualities, thus emphasizing that fiber art is capable of provoking serious scholarly discussion similar to the discussion of other art forms