University of California Berkeley Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California Gyongy Laky FIBER ART: VISUAL THINKING AND THE INTELLIGENT HAND With an Introduction by Kenneth R. Trapp Interviews Conducted by Harriet Nathan in 1998-1999 Copyright 2003 by The Regents of the University of California has been Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the nation. Oral History is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is indexed, bound with photographs and illustrative materials, and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ********************************* All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and Gyongy Laky, dated October 21, 1999. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of the Director of The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to the Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, Mail Code 6000, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000, and should include identification of the specific passages to be quoted, anticipated use of the passages, and identification of the user. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Gyongy Laky, "Fiber Art: Visual Thinking and the Intelligent Hand," an oral history conducted by Harriet Nathan in 1998-1999, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2003. Copy No. 1 Gyongy Laky in her San Francisco studio, 1 999. Photo by Brett Christiansen TABLE OF CONTENTS Gyongy Laky PREFACE i INTRODUCTION by Kenneth R. Trapp v INTERVIEW HISTORY by Harriet Nathan ix BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION xiii I EARLY YEARS, FAMILY, WORLD WAR II, ESCAPE, AND ARRIVAL IN AMERICA 1 Refugees, Vineyard, and a Moving War Front 2 Mud and Wattle Buildings, Woven Fences 3 YMCA, Non-Communist Resistance, and the American Legation 4 Parents Marriage, Move to U.S., Ill-Timed Hungarian Visit 7 Survival in Wartime Budapest, Postwar Escape to Vienna 7 Search for Shelter, Finding Father 1 1 St. Gilgen, Walter Kilpatrick, Sponsors and Mentors: The Stocker Family 12 II MOVING ALONG IN AMERICA 1 5 Mother s Family, Her Style, Legacy, Experiences 15 Later Fears and Childhood Memories 1 8 Oklahoma, Father s Skill, Selling and Speaking 19 Attraction of Discards; Understanding Knots 20 Oklahoma and the First Gallery, Texas, and Revisiting St. Gilgen 23 III UNDERSTANDING THE INTELLIGENT HAND 25 Art and Mathematics Conference, and Three-Dimensional Visual Information 25 What You See and Infer, and How You Use It 28 More on Art-Math Conference, and Interdisciplinary Questions 28 High School and After, Interests, Activities, Travel 3 1 Ten Months in Paris, Emile Lahner, and Art Education 33 Experiencing French and World Politics 39 Father s Galleries, Chinese Paintings, Artists 39 IV DECISION: EXTENDING EDUCATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY 43 Mixing Academic Courses and Art Classes, Finding a Broader Approach in the Design Department 44 Direct-Hand Methods, Three Dimensions, and the Federal Art-in-Architecture Program 45 Government Contracts, Legal Work, and Looking Ahead to Fiberworks and BALA 47 Openness, and Significant UC Faculty Members 49 University Turbulence and Students Questioning Relevance 52 Two Open Rooms and a Rogue Cafe 52 Campus Experience and the Context of the Times 53 Student Involvement: Cambodia Crisis, Posters, Speaking to the UC Administration 55 Geodesic Domes 58 Wanting the University to Become More Human 59 More on Ramona s Cafe 61 Pace of Change and Need for Constant Reform 62 63 Personal Pressure to Complete the Master s Degree 64 Synthetic Plus Natural Materials 65 Importance of Not Knowing 66 Letting Go of the Rational 67 Spontaneity and Drawing-Like Twig Constructions 69 Some Early Awards, and Patchwork Funding for Education, Travel 70 Closing the Berkeley Design Department, Loss to Creative Life V EMERGING AS A PROFESSIONAL ARTIST Nature and Nurture Jobs to Pay Off Debts 75 Graduate Students Need for Time 76 Need to Live in Another Culture, and the Professional Studies in India Program 76 VI EXPERIENCING INDIA Postgraduates and Variety of Disciplines Choosing Primary-Source Textiles, Travels, Delhi Seminars 80 81 Patola Techniques: Weaving, Painting, Moving Camel Festival, Pushcar Mela 83 Three in a Delhi Apartment; Travel in Northern India 84 Sparkling Glass and Mica; Ironing Saris; Buying Tie-Dye 85 Interest in Basketry, Rope Weaving 86 Slowing the Rush to Modernize; Subramanyan, Haku Shah, and the Tribal Museum 88 Complexity of India and Skills of the Untouchables 90 VII SIGNIFICANCE OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY, TRAVEL 91 The Immigrant Experience 91 Otherness, and Creative Thinking 92 Travel as Self-Education, as Influence on Art Work 94 Flexibility in Graduate Programs; the Practicum 95 More on Afghanistan and India: Camel Belts, Split-Ply Techniques; the Market 96 VIII CREATING AND LEADING FIBERWORKS CENTER FOR THE TEXTILE ARTS 101 The Berkeley Tapestryworks and Its Potential 101 Penniless Fund Raiser 1 02 Good Will and a Mailing List 1 04 From Business Venture to Nonprofit Organization 1 05 "It Will Work Out" 105 Developing the "Salon Effect" 1 07 Indonesian Textile Exhibition, Third-World Riches 107 Women as Leaders; and the Huge Weaving 109 1 1 "Creativity Belongs to Everybody" Workshops 1 Fund Raising 112 More on Philosophy, Structure, Exhibitions, and Exciting Ideas 113 Watching the Creative Process 115 Bay Area Textile Arts: Current Scene; Recent Past 1 1 7 Critical Mass of Creative People; Little Public Attention 118 The Artist, Both Gregarious and Solitary 1 1 9 Fiberworks: Some Key Ingredients 121 Outreach to People of Every Age 124 Kids Workshops and Household Items, Performance Events 125 Academic Degrees, Accredited Programs 127 The Board, Fund Raising, Art Events, Art Couture 130 Yoshiko Wada, a Workshop, and the Shibori Society 133 More on Fiberworks Gallery, and a Free-Wheeling Tune 134 Building an Institution, Services for Artists, BALA 135 Special Workshops and Alternative Education 136 International Textile Arts Conference; Fiberworks Symposium I 137 Food, Creativity, and Leadership 139 Hazards in Stabilizing an Institution 141 More on International Textile Symposium, Personalities, and Naming a Field 143 Fiberworks Split in Philosophy, and Agony of Fund Raising 146 IX UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS, FACULTY 149 Associate Professor Step One; or Acting Associate Professor 149 Dossier for Tenure 1 50 From Applied Behavioral Sciences to Environmental Design 152 University s Minimal Support for Visual Arts 152 Graduate Program in Textile Arts and Costume Design 153 The Students Filter, Celebrating Differences 154 Impetus from Graduate Students 155 Art Students in a Big, Diverse University 157 More on UC and Visual Arts 1 59 Student Support, Pressure, and Competition 160 Changes in Student Attitudes Subtly Altering Teaching 161 Design s Multiple Connections with the World 164 Benefits of Discussion, Work in Class 166 Davis, Affirmative Action Activities 167 Systemwide Affirmative Action Committee, and Tape-Recorded Interviews 173 Feeling Capable, Finding Who Is Really in Charge 175 "Take Girls 176 Your Daughter to Work Day," and After-School Academy Learning about Research Appointments 178 Department of Art Chair in Difficult Times 182 More Budget Cuts, VERIP, Threat to Art Studio Program 1 84 Starting the NO Series 1 86 Departmental Issues and Environmental Safety 1 89 The Missing Ceramic Kims 192 Introducing the Department to Endowment Fund Raising 192 Cutting Staff, Proposing Mergers; Overloads 194 Email Mailing List, Newsletter 195 Too Little, Too Late 196 Consequences, Pro and Con 198 Committee on Academic Personnel 200 X THE VARIOUS SETTINGS OF FIBER ART 203 Installations: Attraction to Situational Work 203 Aspects of Studio Work 204 Creative Thinking out Loud, in Public 204 Washers, Surveyor s Tape, Grids, Nets 206 How Influences Occur; Stacking Wood, Protecting a Tree 208 210 Impermanence of Materials and Earthbound Integrity 210 Valuing Physical Labor Solving the Puzzle of a Radiating Circle of Straight Lines 214 The Headlands Center for the Arts, Installations, Paintings 216 Rangers Concerns and Conversations 221 Denmark s "Northern Fibre III, Hidden Treasures," and One-Person Exhibitions 225 England s Willow Project 229