“My aim is to change the perception of how women-led craft and Appalachian folk art is viewed,” says maker Dre McLeod. “Why can’t it serve as a valuable means of art and expression the same way painting and sculpture has for centuries? Or as when men experiment with the same traditional craft-as-art?”
The Ohio-based artist, who grew up in the Appalachian region of West Virginia where craft is a prominent part of the culture, makes abstract textiles in the vein of Hilma af Klint. Craft and folk art has long been separated from fine art, but Dre has a mission to change the stereotypes surrounding her chosen mediums. “Attempting to make craft into fine art is always alienating! Especially as a woman,” she tells NOT REAL ART. “I often see men working with quilting and fiber receiving exhibitions and accolades, but it seems harder for women to receive recognition for the same.”