Io Palmer: Desired Interruptions

Artist Io Palmer’s desire to address social concerns drives her art.  The exhibition Desired Interruptions is comprised of artwork inspired by material culture and systems of control. Palmer explores the arbitrary and abstract construct of borders that are connected to a general sense of personal and cultural boundaries, in both physical and metaphoric ways.

The slow, methodical pace of her work is meant to emphasize the importance of pensive reflection as a form of internal labor. Thick watercolor paper is painted with layers of pearlescent paint, cut into lacey forms, and sewn together into collaged, hanging panels. Silk-organza fabric is obsessively sewn with thousands of decorative, shiny objects. Her work borrows from two distinct worlds – opulence and humbleness – in order to better understand class tensions and connections.

Io Palmer lives in Pullman, Washington, where she is an associate professor of fine arts at Washington State University. She holds an MFA from the University of Arizona, Tucson and a BFA from Tyler School of Art (Temple University), Philadelphia, PA. In 2019, she received a Fulbright Nehru Research Grant to India.

Organized by the Boise Art Museum

IMAGE: Io Palmer, Chandeliers and Macramé, Boise Art Museum installation detail, 2020, cut and painted watercolor paper, glitter, marker and wood, over 100 cut paper pieces attached to wooden dowels hung from the ceiling, dimensions variable.