Mary Zicafoose tapestries and prints at Hillestad Gallery Dec. 2-Jan. 17

            "Mountains and Ghosts: New Ikat Tapestries and Prints," an exhibition of works by Omaha artist Mary Zicafoose, will be on display at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery from Dec. 2 through Jan. 17.

            Zicafoose's large-scale ikat tapestry diptychs, small format tapestry vignettes and framed collagraphic monoprints on paper explore the archetypal symbol of the trinity. She said she uses the symbolic power of the trinity, expressed in the form of pyramid, triangle and temple, as the recognizable visual metaphor for this body of new work, which invokes landscape, geometry and sacred space.

            "Since childhood, I have been a student of the horizon, always searching for the line where Earth meets sky, finding great excitement in re-ordering the classic and familiar dividing line of power in both my tapestries and works on paper," she said.

            The artist will give a lecture, "Designing a Life: Weaving and Art," in Room 11 of the Home Economics Building, 35th Street north of East Campus Loop, at 6 p.m. Jan. 15. A reception with the artist will follow immediately on the second floor outside the gallery, hosted by the Friends of the Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery. The exhibit, lecture and reception are free and open to the public.

            Zicafoose uses a bound resist technique called weft ikat to dye her threads before she inserts them into her weaving to create her triangular forms. The process the artist uses to dye her yarns permeates them with ancient patterns and coded shapes that appear as ethereal shapes as she weaves. She invokes the mystery of a pyramid and dreams of mountains, leading the viewer to enter these spaces with her because of their unexpected scale and inviting color and pattern. This triad of the mountain-triangle-pyramid form has been fertile ground for the artist to produce a combined output of work on paper and the loom. This work is brought together in the exhibition at the Hillestad Gallery.

            Zicafoose will work with students in the UNL Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design the last week of the exhibition and enliven their first experience weaving with a master class workshop in the weaving studio of the department.

            The Hillestad Gallery is part of the Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design in the UNL College of Education and Human Sciences. Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday-Friday and by appointment. Admission is free. Guest parking is available near the building and metered stalls are located in the Nebraska East Union lot. For more information, call 402-472-2911 or visit http://textilegallery.unl.edu. The gallery will be closed Dec. 23 through Jan. 1 during UNL's annual holiday shutdown.

Writer: Wendy Weiss