What happens when two small business owners – Beryl Koblin and Edna Epelu – collaborate and come together?
They host a nationwide juried exhibition of course – the Small Expressions 2024 traveling exhibit.
Their first conversations began in February 2023 with Koblin seeking Epelu’s interest in hosting the exhibit at The Gallery at Papillon & Company. Koblin is a weaver, local artist, and owner of Beja Knits and Weaving; and Epelu is owner of Papillon & Company, a curated gift shop selling artisanal items, craftsman furniture and original fine art at 418 Main St.
Open since 2020, Epelu has hosted a number of art exhibits and shows at her business.
Small Expressions is an annual juried exhibition of contemporary small-scale fiber works – not to exceed 15 inches in any direction – produced by the prestigious Handweavers Guild of America Inc. (HGA), based in Atlanta, Georgia.
HGA’s mission is to educate, support and inspire the fiber art community. They have about 3,500 members, according to Koblin. They hold an international conference every year, and conduct trainings and workshops for handweavers around the country. One of the things they organize is the annual juried Small Expressions traveling exhibit.
The exhibit features work that speaks to the intricacy of expression, intimacy of design, thoughtful communication, and visual excitement. The artists in the exhibit create a big impact through small pieces, according to the HGA website.
The Gallery at Papillon & Company is the fourth leg on the five-stop tour. It began in Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum in Wichita, Kansas from July 2 to Aug. 4, then traveled to The Little Loomhouse in Louisville, Kentucky from Sept. 3 to Oct. 19.
The tour opened in Metuchen on Nov. 15 and will stay until Dec. 18 before heading to the Dennos Museum Center in Traverse City, Michigan for its final leg of the tour from Jan. 24 to May, 25, 2025.
Koblin and Epelu came together to create the Exploring Fiber Arts series ahead of the exhibit’s arrival. The series has been a project dedicated to enriching the cultural fabric of Metuchen and its surrounding communities through events that educate, engage, and celebrate excellence in fiber art, Koblin and Epelu said.
They kicked off the series on Sept. 25 with an inspiring and well-attended presentation on Silvia Heyden, the acclaimed tapestry weaver renowned for her improvisational and innovative approach to weaving. Some of Heyden’s iconic tapestries are currently on display at Papillon & Company.
“We started with Dan Heyden, who lives in town,” Koblin said. “He’s the son of Silvia Heyden.”
“Over 50 years, she did over 800 tapestries,” Epelu noted. “Her family has at least 80 to 90 [of her tapestries.] I’m quite lucky to have a few here.”
Dan Heyden, who had put together a book of his mother’s works, gave a talk about his mother’s process and how she did her work. Included with her tapestries are drawings associated with the specific weavings.
“It’s a really special find,” Koblin said of the drawings.
Silvia Heyden passed away in 2015. She was 88. Born in Basel, Switzerland, Silvia Heyden studied in the Bauhaus tradition at the school of Arts in Zurich before coming to Baltimore with her husband, Dr. Siegfried Heyden in 1954. Her first major exhibit at the Duke University Art Museum was followed by countless awards, commissions both large and small for public spaces and private homes, local and international exhibits in museums and galleries, as well as numerous workshops and conferences over the course of the next 50 years. Her work is in the permanent collections of numerous East Coast and European museums, colleges and private collections as well as public buildings, according to her obituary.
“She was really renowned in the weaving space,” Epelu said. “We were lucky in a way to have this iconic person in a way be the kickoff towards the whole series … the show is present today, but at least with the context to the past, which makes it much bigger.”
“Her work is jaw dropping,” added Koblin. “You really see how she moved away from the grid, which is kind of the backbone of weaving and she really pushed the limits of that … it is pretty amazing.”
In October, Koblin led a sold-out hands-on weaving workshop allowing participants to explore fiber art techniques on a variety of looms, providing a tactile experience of weaving’s beauty and complexity.
“Sixteen people came and I brought four different kinds of looms so they could try different kinds of weaving,” Koblin said. “I gave a brief overview of the structure of [the workshop], then people just played on the looms … it was really fun.”
The series culmination of the Small Expressions 2024 exhibition is in full swing showcasing the artistic talent of creators from 20 U.S. states and beyond, each mastering the challenges of small-scale fiber artistry. The collection features 33 intricately crafted pieces that blend traditional and nontraditional materials, inviting viewers to delve into the rich texture, color, and structure of each work. Through these compact masterpieces, visitors experience storytelling woven into fiber art, offering a multi-sensory immersion into this vibrant art form.
“The big thing for me … this is a nationwide thing,” Epelu said noting the other locations selected are more established businesses and museums. “… Here you have two literally small business owners putting together this big thing.”
Ahead of the exhibit, Epelu posted pieces weekly on social media, Koblin and Epelu held a ticketed private showing of the exhibit on Nov. 14 and Epelu ran 33 miles on Oct. 31 to fundraise and raise awareness of the show.
Although all events have been free to the community, it has been a costly venture for the pair. But holding the free events have been important for them.
“We really wanted this to be something accessible to everybody here and the surrounding communities,” Koblin said. “We didn’t want that to be a barrier for people being able to experience fiber art.”
Sponsors of the exhibit have included anonymous tapestry and fiber donors; the Friends of Metuchen Arts; Dan and Dorothy Heyden; Diane Bennet; Lenore Boyarin; Robert Diken, Basecamp; Jockey Hollow Weavers; Bob and Jessica Kaimo; Shannan Foat-Gelber; Nelson Li,; Mary O’Mara; Richa Ramrakhyani; Elizabeth Verderosa; Christine von der Linn; Linda Vonderschmidt-LaStella and Nino LaStella, Earthsongs Ceramic Studio.
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church provided the pedestals for the exhibit.
The Art of Weaving
“Weaving has been around for thousands and thousands of years,” Koblin said. “They found part of the issue of going into archaeological digs is that fiber doesn’t stay around as much as other materials. They have found pieces from thousands and thousands of years ago and it evolved over time in terms of how people were [weaving].
“From just using fingers, to having small blocks with poles and slots in them, which they made out of bone or wood to attaching [the material] to a tree and then wrapping around your back strap to get really good tension and using sticks to be able to make different patterns.
“Patterns have been passed down from generation to generation with many people memorizing them… it’s just been around for a very long time.”
Up until the early 1900s, weaving was considered a craft.
“It was very practical, people did it because they needed clothing, they needed coverlets for their bed, they needed rugs on their floor to keep warm, tapestries on the wall to keep warm,” Koblin explained.
In the early 1900s, there was a tension brewing between weaving as a craft and people trying to push it as an art.
“It was really kind of during the 1900s and up to the 1950s – mostly women – pushing the envelope to make weaving an art,” Koblin said. “They did these big pieces, things hanging down from the ceiling and just pushing the envelope. … Now you see weaving pieces in major museums because people have recognized it as an art.”
However, the tension exists to this day whether to consider weaving as a craft or as an art.
What do consider weaving as? Visit the Small Expressions Exhibit at The Gallery at Papillon & Company, 418 Main St., during exhibition hours:
Tuesday through Saturday: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sunday: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For more information visit www.tinyurl.com/FiberArtMetuchen or call (732) 586-8124.
