Foliage by MacArthur Artist in Residence Fanny Allie Fanny Allié

Foliage
Found Fabric, Mixed Media & Thread
36” x 38”
Barn Hallway
Artist in Residence, March-April 2021

Allié

Fanny Allié is a talented French-born, Brooklyn-based mixed media artist whose work defies traditional categories and classifications. She deftly incorporates found and hand-dyed fabric, hanging threads, discarded objects and other ephemera into collages and layered textiles united through embroidery. Her works are grounded in figures and physical spaces, yet these everyday elements fuse together to occupy an interstitial or mythical space.

In partnership with Tappan Collective — an organization that supports and amplifies emerging artists — we welcomed Allié to MacArthur Place in March 2021 as part of our artist-in-residence program. During her prolific residency, Allié created three textile-based works using donated and recycled fabric bought in second hand stores in Sonoma. Her primary piece, Foliage, was created expressly for and inspired by MacArthur Place, and hangs proudly in our central entrance hallway where it mirrors the verdant landscape and personages from which it takes its cues. Her other two site-specific pieces are available for purchase via Tappan. Fanny describes her inspiration and artistic process:

“Through my textile and mixed media work I explore the questions of home, the sense of belonging, passage, ephemeral and the disappearance of the body. My practice — inspired and directed by remnants, refuse, overlooked and lost elements of daily life — is an exploration of the spaces we inhabit, starting with the body, the first place that contains us. For the piece I created for MacArthur Place, Foliage, I was also inspired by the observation of the MacArthur staff working around the lush garden property, noticing their body positions and gestures on a daily basis. By incorporating used fabric/cloth belonging to different communities in Sonoma into my work and sewing together many layers of past stories that become part of the material itself, my intention was to convey the spirit of the place.”

Learn More About The Artist


MacArthur Place x TAPPAN: Fanny Allié


 Video by Conor Hagen


Behind The Scenes with Fanny


Photography by Emma K. Morris