INFO

 

Artist Info

Margaret Timbrell

www.margarettimbrell.com

instagram.com/MargaretDTH

Artist Bio

Margaret Timbrell is a conceptual needlework artist with a multi-disciplinary degree from NYU.  Her work is inspired by various influences (such as technology, parenthood, perseverance and failure) that alter language and engagement. Timbrell has exhibited at the De Young Museum, San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, Eleanor Harwood Gallery, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art and other galleries. She was featured in the SF Examiner, LA Times, Bust Magazine. In 2012 she was selected as a Heart Artist for SF General’s annual fundraiser. From 2015 to 2017 Timbrell participated in the StARTup Fair. She participated in Lenka Clayton’s Artist Residency in Motherhood and, in 2018, Timbrell was the Artist in Residence at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles. Currently Timbrell is a Facility Artist at 1240 Minnesota Street Project, and Studio Artist at Pacific Felt Factory. In Fall of 2019 she completed a 15’ latch hook portrait of Minnie Pearl for the Graduate Hotel in Nashville. Fall 2021 she has a solo, The Unicorn, at the Great Highway Gallery.

Artist Statement

Upon graduation from NYU I entered a photography based art career. However, after a very bad accident, I could no longer work in the darkroom so I began needlepointing. This practice soon expanded to other fields of technically advanced needlework, including embroidery, cross stitch, as well as needlepoint. 

I consider myself a conceptual needlework artist who uses the craft to reflect vulnerability, failure, and perseverance. An over arching source of inspiration with my work is the influence of the external. 

Usually a series starts with an observation. I might notice that now, as a parent, people often say “looks like you’ve got your hands full” to me, or I might notice the strangeness of form letters, or interesting linguistic or grammar patterns in our technology. I think of this as my raw data. 

At the same time, I am constantly researching and learning about the different styles and histories of needlework. In this way I am able to marry the traditional and historical context of a technique with the so called data that I’ve collected, creating work that can be appreciated both by a sophisticated stitcher and by the average viewer.