micro/MACRO Textiles: Object Studies

Cotton fragment from a Xiaoshan lace example under magnification by Elisa Ho.

About micro/MACRO Textiles

micro/MACRO Textiles: Object Studies is a collection of object-based investigations created by students in the micro/MACRO Textiles: Artist Research Seminar at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). This course is held in the Textile Resource Center (TRC) within the Fiber and Material Studies (FMS) department.

This seminar uses the Textile Resource Center as source material to explore artist research practices. An emphasis is placed on slow looking and hands-on study of objects to gain an understanding of textile and fiber structures, material choices, modes of fabrication and production, while assessing larger frames of cultural context, meaning and metaphor.

Through thoughtful guided close observation, we learn about the complex lives of objects and the stories that they tell us to inspire and act as a foundation for our own creative work. Classroom guests include artists and scholars from areas in conservation, science and technology, and anthropology to extend our perspectives in how we view and learn from objects. We take field trips behind the scenes at the Art Institute, and also address topics in fiber morphology and mechanics, microscopy, collections care, exhibition, installation, curation, and collections management.

Students develop studio work, written research, and class presentations, exploring these materials through drawing, notation, photography, video, live action, and remaking.

Batik, photo edited by Ailene DeVries

Close Looking

An emphasis is placed on slow looking and hands-on study of objects to gain an understanding of textile and fiber structures, material choices, modes of fabrication and production, while assessing larger frames of cultural context, meaning and metaphor.

Using magnification tools like digital microscopes, we engage deeply with the physical material at our fingertips.

Dino-lite capture of a silk suture.

Shelves in the TRC, photo by Ailene DeVries

About the TRC

The Textile Resource Center (TRC), part of SAIC's network of Flaxman Library & Special Collections, offers a hands-on study collection to the SAIC community of global textiles dating from pre-Columbian to contemporary times. Visitors engage with textiles and books that reflect a broad range of materials, processes, patterns, designs, approaches, and cultures. Together, these resources support the study of historical and contemporary textile practices, as well as conceptual approaches to textile making around the world.

Having opened in 2013 with the Fiber and Material Studies departmental book collection and the world textile and book collections of Professors Emeritae Joan Livingstone and Anne Wilson, the TRC collection has continued to grow in size and scope, currently holding over 500 textile objects and more than 2,000 non-circulating books and magazines exploring individual artists, processes, materials, critical theory, and global textile histories.

The SAIC Community can explore the TRC’s textile and book collections online through our digital collections. TRC collections require SAIC login.

Detail of an Ewe (West African Strip-Weaving), photo by Lily Homer

Sample of a cotton shibori, with ties left in

Our Classroom

The TRC is a hands-on resource open to all SAIC students, faculty and staff. It is located in the Fiber and Material Studies Department, Sharp 1003 and is available by appointment or during open access hours which change each semester. Students are encouraged to spend time with the textile collection by touching, exploring, and getting to know individual objects through class research, studio projects, and personal inquiry.

A large table, seating 10, sits in the center of the room, acting as a stage to lay out books and textiles and as a conference table for individual students and professors, as well as for classes, like micro/MACRO.

Drawer holding collection of obi, photo by Ailene DeVries

Follow micro/MACRO Textiles course on Instagram for frequent updates and insights into the SAIC fiber community.

micro/MACRO Textiles Object Studies was designed and originally compiled by Lily Homer, Teaching Assistant to Micro/Macro Textiles, Spring 2021. Updates by Delaina Doshi, Teaching Assistant, since Spring 2022.