Artist Bobbi Meier

Bobbi Meier is a Chicago-based multimedia artist. Known primarily for her provocative, fiber-based abstract sculptures, she challenges boundaries between public and private, exploring themes of proper manners and repressed sexuality. She has participated in solo and group shows in the Midwest, nationally, and internationally. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Kohler Foundation, as well as the John Michael Kohler Art Center, where she was in residence in 2019. Additional residencies include: The Ragdale Foundation, Ox-bow School of Art and Artist’s Residency, Sanskriti-Kendra Foundation in New Delhi, and a fellowship at Anderson Ranch, Colorado. In 2023 she was selected as an Artadia/Chicago finalist, and awarded an Illinois Arts Council Grant for her solo exhibition at Riverside Arts Center in Riverside, Illinois. Her sculpture, Conversation Piece (reclining), was chosen as a Manifest Gallery Grand Jury Prize Finalist for Season 16 (2019/2020).

Her work has been exhibited at institutions throughout Chicago area including; the Driehaus Museum, The Franklin, Hyde Park Art Center, The Museum of Surgical Science, Lubeznik Art Center, and others. She earned both an MA in Art Education and MFA in Fiber and Material Studies from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

"Spandex, pantyhose, and vintage fabrics — materials culturally coded as feminine underpin my work. I transform thrifted domestic furnishings into voluptuous upholstered forms that allude to parts of the body. Multimedia installations and sculptures function as emotional repositories for hidden feelings and unspoken thoughts; filtered through a feminist lens, I explore themes of proper manners, repressed sexuality and grief. The psychological phenomena to perceive a specific image in an ambiguous visual pattern — or pareidolia — exists in the creases, folds and bulging areas found in these abstract forms. Ceramics, mixed-media collages, relief sculptures and embroidery are important parts of my practice. Fiber is bound and contorted, disassembled stuffed toys transform into provocative bits of fur, things that should be soft become hard. Through delicate and aggressive manipulation these materials become invented decors inspired by memories of childhood, and the unseen labor of my mother and grandmothers. I offer an erotically-charged dialogue between playfulness and discomfort and present opportunities to visit uncomfortable situations with both desire and embarrassment."

Tell us a little about yourself (where you are from) and your background in the arts.

I was born in Tarrytown, New York, and by the time I was ten, I had lived in seven different states. My family eventually settled in Palatine, Illinois—a suburb of Chicago—in 1966, and I’ve lived in the Chicago area ever since. All that moving around when I was very young definitely influenced me. Drawing became my way of dealing with the constant stress of starting over. Music was a big part of my childhood and teen years.

My mom’s determination to return to school as an adult to improve her piano skills had a lasting impact on me. It encouraged me to keep pursuing creative outlets—choir, piano lessons, performing arts, and even painting designs on my friends’ jeans for extra money.

I always wanted to pursue fine arts, but my path took a few turns along the way. I earned a BFA in Visual Communication and began a career in graphic design, then started a family, followed by a Master’s degree in Art Education and a career teaching high school art. Eventually, I returned to school once more and completed my MFA in Fiber & Material Studies at age 56.

What kind of work are you currently making?

I am creating a multi-media installation with a working title of Yearning for Warm and Fuzzy. It’s comprised of soft wearable “boas”, furniture upholstered with sensuous fabrics, watercolor paintings displayed in overtly decorative frames and hopefully towers of stuffed animal sculptures that won’t look like I’m ripping off Mike Kelley!

Playing with pantyhose, spandex, fiberfilI and thrifted furniture, I want the work to be inviting and simultaneously awkward. I’m thinking about our essential need for comfort and safety and how swaddling, wrapping and enveloping within the softness of materials can help.

What is a day like in the studio for you?

Getting to the studio is half the battle! I make a list every morning that includes a section for household chores, art administration work and studio projects. When I’m on a roll with a new project I will be in the studio 5 - 8 hours daily with a short break for lunch.

I start my day by turning on classical music or listening to a book. I make a cup of herbal tea, and randomly open Rick Rubin’s book, The Creative Act, and use whatever bit of advice I happen upon to help guide my day. I start working on something I have purposely left undone from my last work session, as I always have multiple projects in various stages of completion.

Making my sculptural work, although typically of soft materials, often involves aggressive physical manipulation: stuffing, stretching, stapling and stitching. Since much of my work is 3-dimensional, I find it relaxing to have a parallel drawing/watercolor practice; this being my ‘no judgement’ play work. I share my space with my husband and partner, which has worked out surprisingly well. We share ideas, help with critiques and at times make work together.

What are you looking at right now and/or reading?

I love looking at the Vitamin Series of art Books. Vitamin T: Threads and Textiles in Contemporary Art and Vitamin C: Clay and Ceramic in Contemporary Art are in my library. I just picked up The Portable Feminist Reader edited by Roxanne Gay and have been working my way through this impressive anthology of feminist writings. It’s a wonderful collection presented in bite sized pieces, so I’m not feeling overwhelmed.

I also read (or listen to) contemporary and classic fiction on a regular basis, thanks to the book group I have belonged to for over 20 years. My favorite novel this year was James, by Percival Everett and Horse: A Novel, by Geraldine Brooks.

Where can we find more of your work? (ex. website/insta/gallery/upcoming shows)

Website: www.bobbimeier.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bobbimeier/

Upcoming shows: I have a solo exhibition opening Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove, IL