Bio
Zoe Pettit is a textile artist from Palm Springs, California and currently lives and works in Richmond, Virginia. She frequents Florence, Italy to create textile work and is greatly inspired by her cultural surroundings. She received her Bachelors in Crafts/Materials Studies and Minor in Art History from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2023. Along with her textile work, Pettit has a background in Oil Painting, Art Education, Fashion Design, and Art Education. She explores the ideas of being a female artist and what power that holds within textile art as well as experimental combinations of color and pattern. In 2020, Pettit was a Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship recipient in Undergraduate-Mixed Media; she was 1 of 26 artists selected of 553 candidates.
Artist Statement
"I am a professional textile artist with a background in fashion design, art education, and oil painting. My practice consists of exploration of color and pattern through fabric design techniques including weaving, batik, print and dye techniques, and a variety of embellishment techniques. I pull from my background in painting through my fabric design techniques, especially when working with batik and direct dye application. I am interested in sustainable practice: repurposing objects, thrifting materials, and refurbishing furniture. I find inspiration all around me; in patterns and color in surrounding nature and architecture. My goal is to take traditional weaving techniques and push them into the world of soft sculpture, furniture design, and fashion design. I often create everyday objects to transform them into something special and unique that the viewer can feel connected to; the idea of bringing joy into any moment and any object is what I strive for."
