My Life in Rugs: Spotlight on Member Emmy Robertson

When Emmy Robertson was fired from her last professional job, her first thought was, “Oh! Now I can have a dog.” That accomplished, she decided that she did not want to work for anyone else ever again, and determined to become a self-supporting fiber artist instead.

Robertson utilizes the historically feminine traditional rug hooking techniques to create tapestries that push the boundaries of storytelling and visual aesthetics. Loop-by-loop over the course of decades, she has produced works that have transcended the definition of rug hooking as a craft into an art. With masterful detail, focus, and sly humor, she presents the world through a feminist lens and coming-of-age story, highlighting the presence and impact iof women in society. Her works bear messages that are as broad and social as the process is precise and private: playfully confrontational and provocative.

Emmy Robertson has been called a “rug-hooking iconoclast” and believes that label is one of the greatest compliments she has ever received. Among many exhibitions, her work has been shown at the Peabody Museum, the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum, the Shelbourne Museum in Vermont, and most recenty at Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum in 2023. Her series of Menstruation Rugs resides in a private collection in Norway. She has been featured in numerous books and publications, including “My Life in Rugs”.

Please join us to celebrate Emmy Robertson’s career and to discover her message and her impact on contemporary weaving disciplines. In her own words, “I always felt that I had something to say”.

“My Life in Rugs” by Emily Robertson will be for sale at the program for $10 a copy. Cash or check only please.

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