Malene Barnett (Photo courtesy Visual Arts Center of Richmond)
“Crafts are art that we are experiencing on a daily basis,” says New York-based artist and designer Malene Barnett. “Whether an object or piece of wearable art, craft comes in many disciplines. We take it for granted because we live with craft every day. We don’t think about it as an art form. But these are the objects that survive for centuries, and that, when discovered by archaeologists, are used to define civilizations.”
Barnett will be the featured speaker at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond’s Rise + Shine Brunch during its Craft + Design show on Saturday, Nov. 23, at 9:30 a.m.
An artist and designer, Barnett draws on her deep love of color and rich textures, merging fine art with the principles of digital design to create collections of contemporary paintings, patterns, clay objects and bespoke carpets. “It’s what drives me to work in mixed media — acrylics, watercolors, pastels, fine yarns and clay,” she says. “I am interested in pushing these mediums into art and designs that look and feel multidimensional.” Barnett’s creations stem from her original artwork on canvas, paper and wood — images and patterns that translate across her entire product line.
“I consider color and patterns a language with a psychology,” Barnett says. “I’m intrigued by the idea of how style and technique can trigger drama and memories, identify a people or a place. That idea works with my current body of work.” For her, it’s not just about the creative process, but the people behind it, giving it authenticity, meaning and purpose.
Barnett is an anthropologist and authority on the cultural traditions, practices and black experience of art in the African diaspora, constantly looking for new ways to define the black narrative and experience for a new generation. In 2018, to combat the lack of representation of black talent and culture in the design industry she founded the Black Artists + Designers Guild, a global platform representing an independent black artists, makers and designers across various disciplines who are at the top of their fields.
Over the past 20-plus years, Barnett’s creations have been featured in numerous magazines including Interior Design, New York, HGTV magazine, Luxe + Design, and House Beautiful. She has appeared as a guest speaker on "Morning Joe," MSNBC's "Your Business" and TEDx and was featured in the New York Times bestseller “In the Company of Women.” Barnett is an alumna of the Fashion Institute of Technology, where she studied fashion illustration and textile surface design.
