Anne Crumpacker

“Twenty years ago, in Tokyo, I stepped into a freshly cut, monumental bamboo installation created by Hiroshi Teshigahara. In that moment I experienced a palpable elevation, the sense of deep order and connection present in a sanctuary or sacred place. In the intervening years, the character of bamboo continued to resonate. I studied ikebana for 15 years and took art classes on a regular basis. Bamboo captivated me. I wanted to understand why it held this meaning in my life.

Today i find myself immersed in bamboo. To the amazement of family and friends, bamboo lures me into the studio for long days of cutting, taping, measuring, drilling, threading, designing, arranging, problem solving. the repeating hand-eye rhythm of gluing or connecting the crosscut bamboo pieces absorbs and mesmerizes me. I am in the flow. This is my meditation. The work is a giant puzzle; I crave the process of assembling the pattern. I become the process of assembling the pattern.”

Crumpacker holds a BA from Scripps College and a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies from Reed College as well as a teaching credential from University of California, Berkeley. She is a member of the first graduating class of the MFA program in Applied Craft and Design from Oregon College of Art and Craft + Pacific Northwest College of Art.