Candace Briceño uses her background in fiber work to create a landscape that not only appeals to the viewer’s sense of sight but also to the tactile sense. Fifteen trees are abstractly placed in the background, along with a stump that inspires the title, And One to Grow On. The colors are unique for a landscape; red and poppy colors create movement and vibrance in the foreground, and greenish-yellow grass drips down the hill. Japanese influence appears in the red and black hues and in the delicate lines that create shadows. The shadows appear to be connected to the trees but when looked at closer, they add to a subtle abstraction that doesn’t mirror the form of long, straight trunks. Pink flowers blossom in the foreground, along with mushrooms that are a trademark of Briceño’s soft sculpture pieces. Blue clouds and pieces of the sky float behind the blossoms, creating the sense that they are just as tangible as the flowers and trees around them.

Briceño first began working with cloth when she was a young girl, learning to sew with her grandmother. After taking an art class with Sydney Jaeger at Austin Community College, Briceño realized that her passion lies in creating art, and went on to study at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. There, she took a fibers class and used her painting and drawing skills to design and sew soft sculpture pieces. She now uses felt, acrylic, wool, and thread on canvas to create collage-like pieces. Briceño created The Heart’s Altar for Serie II and Las Rosas de mi Uelita for Serie VI.

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