By 1985, Mary Snyder Behrens had moved toward making works that were neither paintings nor collages. Instead, they were typically made of cloth, often entirely, and were entered in exhibitions as textile art or fiber art. A pivotal work from this period was a non-wearable, wall-hung textile art that alludes to the decorative excess of wedding dresses. That work was first exhibited in Marriage ala Mode: The Aesthetics of Mating, an innovative theme show at the Wustum Museum of Fine Art (Racine WI) in 1986.
Mary Snyder Behrens, What About It (1987). Fiber. 33h x 70w. Private collection.
Mary Snyder Behrens, Rainbow Sleeves (1986). Fiber. Private collection.
Mary Snyder Behrens, Red Rockets (1986). Fiber. 31h x 40w. Collection of the James and Meryl Hearst Center.
Mary Snyder Behrens, Sister Midnight (1986). Fiber. 30h x 20w. Private collection.
Exhibition poster (1986)
Many of the pieces from this time period were made by transforming second-hand clothing from thrift shops, including radically altered shirts. Of particular note, for example, is a thread-embellished artwork called Rainbow Sleeves (shown above) that began with a child’s red shirt.
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In the same year, related fiber works were shown in one-person exhibitions, notably Mock Costumes at the Theodore Robinson Gallery, University of Wisconsin-Rock County (Janesville), and Altercations in Color and Cloth at the Crossman Gallery, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Behrens left Wisconsin in 1986, when she and her husband moved to Cincinnati OH.
As her work continued, its experimental mix of art with the tools and traditions of textile design achieved a new intensity. Especially critical was her use of industrial sewing machines in creating shaped wall-mounted works in which entire surfaces were machine-embroidered. In an important subsequent series, she used nuanced colors and abstract geometric forms in reference to the quiet restraint of Japanese kimonos.
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Mary Snyder Behrens, Edo Wan (1988). Fiber. 38h x 45w. Private collection.