Claire Renaut
Open Studio
Friday, Oct 30 at 5 - 6PM
NWDC at Railspur
419 Occidental Ave. S

Claire Renaut, a fiber/textile artist, is recognized for her work of spinning newspaper into yarn and intricate textile pieces. "Common materials are great materials, the transformation potential are endless". "The newspaper is almost unrecognizable  after it has been spun".

Formally trained at ESMOD in Paris, Philadelphia University's Master's in Textile, and Kyoto's Kawashima school of Textile, Renaut has extended on the traditional Japanese Shifu technique of spinning thinly cut paper into thread.  She then knit, wrap or weave the yarn.

Artist Statement

I am a fiber artist with a lifelong love of textiles and texture. Close to twenty years ago, while studying in Kyoto, I learned a process called Shifu for converting paper into yarn. This technique has become the foundation of my artistic expression. I work primarily with newspapers, spinning it into yarn, and then weaving, knitting, or wrapping it.  

The process of transforming paper into yarn is deliberate and meticulous. The work is both a meditation and a counterbalance to our times of fast technology. The headlines and stories from a particular place and day become embedded in the foundation of each piece I construct.