Retrospective of fiber artist opens at NYC museum

This undated photo provided the Brooklyn Museum shows an untitled 2003-4 work of art by Judith Scott, who made cocoon-like fiber sculptures at the Creative Growth Art Center in Oakland, Calif. Scott, who died in 2005, was born with Down syndrome and was deaf and mute. She was institutionalized for 35 years until she was introduced to the Creative Growth Art Center and its program for artists with developmental disabilities. She’s now getting her first solo museum exhibition in the United States. “Bound and Unbound” opens Friday, Oct. 24, 2014, at the Brooklyn Museum. (AP Photo/Brooklyn Museum, Addison Doty) This undated photo provided the Brooklyn Museum shows an untitled 2003-4 work of art by Judith Scott, who made cocoon-like fiber sculptures at the Creative Growth Art Center in Oakland, Calif. Scott, who died in 2005, was born with Down syndrome and was deaf and mute. She was institutionalized for 35 years until she was introduced to the Creative Growth Art Center and its program for artists with developmental disabilities. She’s now getting her first solo museum exhibition in the United States. “Bound and Unbound” opens Friday, Oct. 24, 2014, at the Brooklyn Museum. (AP Photo/Brooklyn Museum, Addison Doty)

By Associated Press October 23, 2014 3 min read

NEW YORK (AP) – Institutionalized for more than three decades and largely deaf and mute, Judith Scott found her voice through art, forming intricate sculptures of yarn, fabric and other fibers tightly wrapped around an array of found objects.

Born with Down syndrome, the late artist is getting her first solo museum exhibition in the United States. “Bound and Unbound” opens Friday at the Brooklyn Museum featuring 60 of her cocoon-like works.

But the honor would not have fazed Scott, who died in 2005 at 61. It was the creative process – not accolades – that engaged her.

Scott was single-minded about her work. As soon as she finished a piece she pushed it away to signal she was done and immediately moved on to her next project. Found or salvaged objects, everything from fans to shopping carts, gave shape to her wrapping and weaving technique.

Born in Cincinnati, Scott was largely isolated for 35 years until her sister, Joyce, became her legal guardian and introduced her to the Creative Growth Art Center in Oakland, California, in 1987. While Scott had shown no artistic aptitude, Joyce Scott felt the facility for adults with developmental and mental disabilities would be a nurturing place for her.