West Virginia artist Nevada Tribble’s work caught my eye on social media. Actually, the first thing that caught my eye was one of her tools.
The unusual and fascinating tool is a sewing machine mounted on and powered by a bicycle, which she uses to draw with thread on paper she makes, creating a variety of pieces.
Her main mediums are paper and sewing. Nevada said she likes paper because “I feel like it is a medium that can be manipulated in a lot of different ways,” and added she also likes the tactile experience of working with paper.
Sewing appeals to her for it’s functionality.
“I really like that sewing represents a practicality of being able to fix things,” she said.
She uses these mediums to create sculptural works as well as more traditional wall art.
Nevada doesn’t always plan the details of her work before she starts, preferring to think about and develop meaning and form as she creates. Memory, place and change are “the three things I think are always popping back up in my art,” she said.
Nevada said sewing and fiber arts are closely connected to narrative for her, which in turn connects to memory. She mentioned quilting in this context.
Nevada also creates with other media and materials. Last January, Those Who Bloom gallery in Thomas showed her art installation of concentric circles of hanging rocks.
When people entered the exhibit, Nevada said many stood in quiet contemplation at the center, while others lay on the floor looking up, or found different ways to interact with the art.
She has other works for sale at Those Who Bloom, and as part of her Tamarack emerging artists fellowship will participate in an upcoming exhibit at Taylor Books opening Oct. 15 in Charleston.
During our interview, Nevada described a series she created depicting mountains — based on her memories growing up in Elkins and visiting the mountains. Through this work, Nevada explored her memory and “how they could feel different when I went back to them after a long time.”
She often depicts and explores nature through her art, inspired by her environmental concerns. But she avoids making direct political statements in her art. Rather, she hopes her creations might trigger memories of places with which viewers feel connections.
Nevada said she likes the contrast of depicting heavy and dense objects with such a light material. She also uses natural materials, such as leaves and flowers to create imprints in the paper she makes.
Her bicycle-powered sewing machine allows Nevada to draw pictures in nature — the original video I saw of her in action was while using a beautiful old tree as a model.
She said a class she took at Shepherd University inspired her to make the bike-sewing machine combo. For the class, she had to draw from nature.
She wanted to use her sewing machine to draw, and had to find a way to make it portable. “I remember I was thinking of weird ways to hook some type of battery up to my car — it was going to get really sketchy really fast,” she said.
Once the bike idea formed, she got help from a professor who was also an engineer. It took some trial and error to set up. But now she can bike anywhere, then stop and peddle to power the machine.
I find the unique way Nevada uses traditional, ubiquitous materials and tools fascinating, inspiring.
