Crocheted artworks by Gerry Trilling, a local conceptual artist whose work is inspired by her experiences regarding the history and assimilation of the American Jewish diaspora, are currently on display as part of her current exhibition, “All Stories Are True.”
“All Stories Are True” opened on Nov. 4, 2022, and will continue until Dec. 16, 2022, at the Habitat Contemporary Gallery in the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center at 2012 Baltimore Ave., Kansas City, MO 64108.
“All Stories Are True” explores familial narratives and reflects Trilling’s interest in how material culture triggers memory. Habitat Contemporary Gallery’s website includes that “with each fiber crocheted, Trilling echoes a life story and the memory ponds, verts, game boards and woodland objects become more complex as the tale unfolds… Materials, patterns, [and] certain numerical codes are her conceptual signifiers.”
“Everyone who knits or crochets knows that there is always leftover yarn,” Trilling said. “This body of work started in 2017 when I visited a friend in St. Louis. As we sat untangling remnants of yarn, each was identified with some kind of narrative like the complicated skirt she had made for her granddaughter who didn’t like it and now it’s just hanging in a closet. There are narratives and attachments embedded in these remnants.”
The artwork is created using only donated yarn, Trilling said, and the “leftovers which often came with their stories.”
The works in Trilling’s exhibit began with a 16-foot circular piece specific to the site. She added more than 150 pieces to the body of work, some of which are three-dimensional and include movement.
Trilling’s parents escaped the Holocaust and relocated to St. Louis, Missouri, where she grew up in a community of immigrants viewing identity, assimilation and belonging as linked to home environments and material culture.
An active artist for most of her life, Trilling studied weaving, dyeing and paper making in locations including Hong Kong; Singapore; South Korea; Bangkok, Thailand; and Bali, Indonesia. She has a bachelor of fine arts in painting from the Kansas City Art Institute.
Trilling’s art has been featured in dozens of solo, two-person and group exhibitions, and she has won multiple awards since the 1980s.
More information about Trilling and the exhibit can be found at gerrytrilling.com and habitatcontemporary.com.