Judith F. Davis

Judy Davis has been a fabric artist since 1980, specializing in resist dyeing processes known as batik, and more recently, shibori. She is a graduate of Union Theological Seminary in New York City; and has studied at the Penland School of Crafts and the Baltimore Clayworks with Ellen Craib Mitchell, Bonnie Holland, Maman Riken and Joan Morris.

Shibori is a Japanese word that refers to a variety of ways of embellishing textiles by shaping cloth and securing it before dyeing. The word comes from the verb root shiboru, "to wring, squeeze, or to press." Although shibori is used to designate a particular group of resist-dyed textiles, the verb root of the word emphasizes the action performed--the process of manipulating fabric. Rather than treating cloth as a two-mentional surface, shibori techniques give it a three-dimensional form by folding, crumpling, stitching, pleating, knotting, binding, wrapping and twisting.

Judy has been the recipient of D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities grants, and has exhibited her silks for over 25 years. She also has served in various campus ministries in Vermont and at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.; in the development of a Women and Theology Center; and with film and music education projects in schools and universities. Her work also includes the commissioning of individually handcrafted clerical ritual stoles to celebrate special events.

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