Meet visual artist Sophia McCrocklin and view her exhibition, Ferns of Dumbarton, 11 large-scale fiber sculptures and several pen and ink drawings on view April 4–June 23 at The Writer’s Center’s Joram Piatigorsky Gallery. Presented by Dumbarton Oaks Park Conservancy to mark the 100th anniversary of the garden of Dumbarton Oaks Park in Georgetown.
Free and open to the public. Registration optional. Please view and agree to our [link id=’2132036′ text=’COVID Policies’] before attending live events.
Sophia McCrocklin was the first Artist in Residence of the Conservancy’s Art in the Park program from 2017-2019. Her botanical fiber sculptures document sixteen of the fern varieties McCrocklin discovered to have grown in Dumbarton Oaks over the past century. Eleven of these were chosen for this exhibit along with several pen and ink drawings. Every piece is made of Dacron and copper wire that is sewn by hand and machine, painted, and meticulously cut to scale with exquisite detail. The work is then mounted on canvas that is painted with cherry blossoms, as a nod to those that bloom in the garden during the spring. Each fern takes about six months to complete and is either 4.5 feet square or approximately 2.5 feet wide by 7 feet tall. McCrocklin’s collection highlights the elegance and tenacity of these ancient plants, which have endured as a species for over 300 million years
McCrocklin was born in New York City and raised in the Appalachian foothills of Kentucky, graduated from Smith College, studied textiles at Penland School of Crafts, earned a law degree from the University of Louisville and practiced environmental law at the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC. McCrocklin was awarded three Artist Fellowships from the DC Commission for Arts and Humanities from 2019-2022 for her work in this area.