Bio:
Bryana Bibbs is a Chicago-based artist and educator who works at the intersections of textiles, printmaking, painting, and community-based practices. Her work comes from lived experiences of trauma, grief, and loss. Bibbs earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Fiber and Material Studies at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is the founder of The We Were Never Alone Project - a weaving workshop for victims and survivors of domestic violence and serves on the Surface Design Association’s Education Committee.
Recent solo exhibitions include Places (Edition 1) curated by Debra Kayes, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Chicago, IL (2023); Changes, Chesterton Art Center, Chesterton, IN (2024); Unforeseen, 21c Museum Hotel, Chicago, IL (2024); two hundred and fifty-one days, curated by Elise Butterfield, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL (2025).
Recent group exhibitions include A More Human Dwelling Place curated by Myron Beasley, George Marshall Store Gallery, York, ME (2023); Sustenance, Portland Library, Portland, ME (2023); A Love Supreme McCormick House Reimagined curated by Norman Teague & Rose Camara, Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, IL (2024); Newcity Breakout Artists 2024 Exhibition, Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago, IL (2024); Museum of Science & Industry Black Creativity - Booth 183 @ EXPO Chicago, Chicago, IL (2024); piecemeal, curated by darien hunter golston, Chicago Art Department, Chicago, IL (2024); Beyond: Tapestry Expanded curated by Erica Warren, The Richard E. Peeler Art Center, Greencastle, IN (2024); and All Fiber Show, Art Center of Burlington, Burlington, IA (2025).
Awards and residencies include The Weaving Mill - Remote W.A.R.P Residency, Chicago, IL (2020); Chicago Artists Coalition - HATCH Residency, Chicago, IL (2021/22); The Lunder Institute for American Art - Summer Residential Fellowship, Waterville, ME (2022); Surf Point Foundation - Artist Residency, York, ME (2022); and Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts - Winter Pentaculum - Fiber, Gatlinburg, TN (2023); Breakout Artists: Chicago’s Next Generation of Image Makers, Newcity Magazine, Chicago, IL (2024).
Her works has been reviewed and featured in publications including, Warp & Weft Magazine, The Coastal Post, The Strategist in New York Magazine, TATTER Journal, UPPERCASE Magazine, New Visionary Magazine, Newcity Magazine, Artdose Magazine, CBS2 Chicago, Sixty Inches from Center, and LUXE Interiors + Design - Chicago.
Recent commissions include Three H for NeoCon 2024, the Design Museum of Chicago, and the Art Institute of Chicago. Collections include Delta Airlines, Inc. and private collections.
Bibbs has taught with organizations and institutions such as, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL; Awakenings Art, Chicago, IL; The Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL; The Design Museum of Chicago, Chicago, IL; The Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, IL; and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME.
Bibbs lives and works in Chicago, Illinois.
Statement:
My work functions as an archive of lived experiences, and sharing stories of trauma, grief, loss, and mental health can be challenging due to societal stigmas. This challenge has become a central motivation in my practice.
There are parallels between the slow process of navigating personal experiences and the rhythmic textile techniques of hand-carding, hand-spinning, and handweaving, both of which are forms of transformative repetition. While working with these traditional and experimental textile processes, my large-scale weavings explore past experiences in what I consider "chapters." Smaller weavings, like those in the Journal Series, are similar to handwritten journaling, documenting daily observations with found objects and materials. Through ongoing tactile and material exploration, my works inspire an internal space externalized through the play of intricacy, color, and form, often inspired by the fluidity of mark-making and tone associated with painting. I want my works to speak to viewers; their display—especially in contrasting scale and texture—encourages intuitive engagement and invites viewers to reflect on their own physical and conceptual connections within the pieces.
Pressure printmaking is an extension of my textile practice. These prints let me explore ideas of presence and absence, time, preservation, process, and materiality. Through printmaking, I continue to capture and reflect on my experiences, meaningful objects in my life, and the connections between the weavings and the memories tied to them.
By building community, creating artworks, and fostering conversations, I aim to support others in sharing their stories of trauma and grief and working to end the stigma.