For fiber artist Rachel Stark, every thread begins with a touch.
Her process starts by handspinning natural fibers, silk and wool most often, drawn from raw materials into yarn and thread. “This process imbues them with worlds of attention and meaning,” she says. “I move through the world with this same curiosity and a “sensorial attention.”
Stark’s work does not end with the spun fiber. She pairs it with found objects, often industrial wreckage, debris and discard, to spark conversations between seemingly separate worlds. “It’s important to me that these materials talk to each other,” she explains. “Texture and tension, strength and softness.”
Originally from the southwest desert lands of Tucson, Arizona, Stark moved to the Pacific Northwest where she learned to spin. From there, Stark found an open-armed welcome in Western North Carolina’s fiber arts community when she moved here six years ago. Her ecosystem informs her work, “I am very moved by my environment and all of the places I have lived, like Asheville, have impacted me tremendously.” In the River Arts District, she invested in the largest wall available in the Marquee, a bold step taken just months before Hurricane Helene.
When the storm came, floodwaters took all of her work. The only way into the River Arts District afterward was to walk the train tracks. “It was then the steel spoke to me,” she recalls. From that moment, her newest series was born: handspun natural fibers embracing steel salvaged from the wreckage.
Her piece on display at Asheville Regional Airport, "Different Paths," grew from this period of loss and rebuilding. Made from fiber and steel, it invites viewers to “wrap destruction with soft strength” and reconsider what progress means. “My intention is to honor the craft of handspinning, its slowness and attention, while using it to hold collapse with care,” Stark says.
The arts community she loves remains the heartbeat of the region, though its needs are greater than ever. “We need to be supported in business and recovery now more than ever,” she says. Processing the storm through her art kept her going. “Following the inspiration gave me a recovery I might not have had otherwise.”
Her "Different Paths" piece was also featured in the AVL History Special Collection at Pack Memorial Library, where the community was invited to share their own stories of the flood.
Stark’s inspirations range from master artisans to thought leaders. She admires Maestro Chiara Vigo, one of the last people to spin sea silk, whose spiritual and ancestral devotion to her craft echoes Stark’s own care for handspinning. She draws deep curiosity from Vanessa Machado de Oliveira, also known as Vanessa Andreotti, whose compass questions encourage new ways of seeing. Poet and philosopher Bàyo Akómoláfé inspires her with invitations to consider alternative worlds of possibility and to look at the familiar in unfamiliar ways. Just as her environment informs her work, so do the local artists she works alongside. Local artist Vanessa German was a huge supportive force after the hurricane for Stark and other artists, “She is an inspiration for the importance of art as a practice of care and transformation.”
When asked where she might travel next, Stark does not hesitate: “Italy or California.” Both places, like Western North Carolina, hold inspiration for her. “The beauty, the craft traditions, they remind me of why I do this work.”
Because for Rachel Stark, every fiber, every fragment of steel, is an opportunity to weave care into the world.
You can view Stark's piece "Different Paths" in the exhibit "Mountain Memories" at Asheville Regional Airport, on display through October 30, 2025. The exhibit is displayed in the Asheville Regional Airport Art Gallery located in the new North Concourse, post security – please note only ticketed passengers can view this area.
