Myla Collier

Myla Collier’s Artist Statement

There is an Indian myth that speaks of cloth-making as a metaphor for life . . . the stretched “fixed” threads of the warp being the universal laws and the truths we live by. The wandering weft threads trace the path of each individual as they thread their way between events, relationships and connections. I try to visually evoke the emotions we all feel, as we make our way through life, day by day.

As a transplanted easterner, I am intrigued by the overpowering beauty of so many California landscapes. In my newest work I am combining images that often include a archaeological, geological or historical reference. Every few years, when we have had a particularly wet year, the hills along Shell Creek Road are alive with spring wildflowers. Below this panorama, which was once under water, looms the San Andreas Fault, ready to rumble at any moment.

Myla Collier’s Artist Biography

Myla Collier majored in Fashion Design at Parsons, graduated from FIT and worked in fashion design and marketing in New York and Los Angeles. While still in New York she learned tapestry weaving at the Craft Students League. In the years since then she has studied with with Mary Pendleton, Noel Bennett, Cheryl Samuel, Martha Stanley, Archie Brennan, Susan Martin Maffei, and Joan Baxter

During the 1980’s while at home with her young son, she began restoring Navajo and Mexican textiles. In seeking deeper knowledge of these old fabrics, she volunteered at the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles, helping to photograph and catalog its Native American textile collection. This experience sparked her interest in native cultures beyond weaving and into further schooling. She received a B.A. and M.A. in Cultural Anthropology from California State University, Long Beach. Myla lives with her husband in San Luis Obispo and has taught Anthropology at California State University, San Luis Obispo and Cuesta Community College. She now teaches classes in Tapestry Weaving and Life Story Writing for Cuesta College.