Moment to Moment is an exhibition that explores the complex lived experiences related to anxiety, loss, grief, and time. It features moments captured through Bibbs's extensive Polaroid archive, which has been growing over the past 3 years, alongside feelings and moments that are preserved through large-scale weaving installations. These installations incorporate a variety of textures, materials, and colors, reflecting overarching themes of healing, grieving, and the uncertainty that comes with such emotional journeys. Bibbs’s work not only functions as an archive but also as a way to process and navigate through lived experiences.
In the Churchman-Fehsenfeld Gallery, Bibbs creates large-scale, abstracted weavings that serve as externalized reflections and representations of past moments and feelings that are often unseen or too difficult to express directly. These weavings act as visual narratives, telling stories about moments of intense anxiety experienced in new environments, shifts in relationships, and the loss of her grandfather in December 2023 and the loss of her grandmother in August 2024.
Meanwhile, in the Basile Exhibition Corridor, viewers are invited to engage with a collection of Polaroids from Bibbs's archive. These photos mark the beginning of her journey into photo archiving, spanning from 2022 up to the present day. The exhibition documents her various opportunities, explorations, travels, and progressions within her studio practice. However, in late October 2023, things began to shift, highlighting Bibbs's deeply personal grief journey following caregiving and the deaths of her grandparents, along with the profound emotional and creative aftermath that ensued.
Artist Biography:
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 two hundred and fifty-one days, curated by Elise Butterfield (2025), Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL; Unforeseen (2024), 21c Museum Hotel - Chicago, Chicago, IL; and Changes (2024), The Chesterton Art Center, Chesterton, IN.
Recent group exhibitions include No One Knows All It Takes, curated by Christopher Jobson and Grace Ebert (2025), Haggerty Museum of Art, Milwaukee, WI; All Fiber Show (2025), Art Center of Burlington, Burlington, IA; and Beyond: Tapestry Expanded, curated by Erica Warren (2024), The Richard E. Peeler Art Center, Greencastle, IN.
Bibbs has taught with organizations and institutions such as The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL; The Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL; The Design Museum of Chicago, Chicago, IL; The Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, IL; Awakenings Art, Chicago, IL; and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME.
@bryanabibbs (Instagram)