Columbus fiber artist Char Norman creates handwoven, 3-dimensional sculptures. Her latest piece, Tidepools, was selected to be part of the “Best of 2026,” presented May 3–July 3 at the Ohio Craft Museum in the Grandview Heights area.
What is the inspiration for your work?
I’m inspired by what I can find and see in the woods—just little things, like seeds and nuts, bits of fungi, mushrooms—but also the colors and textures in nature. But it doesn’t always have to be the woods: sometimes it’s the ocean. I’m always thinking about how I can manipulate pieces of nature that I find and how I can combine those with fiber.
How has your work evolved over the years?
My background is in traditional weaving, but I was always challenged in school to create 3D works using this 2D format. I did a lot of weaving, but I also worked in printmaking, and I worked to put the two together. Now, I’m known for my woven pods with natural materials inserted in them. It started when I moved to Ohio, and I noticed milkweed pods. The forms just got to me. Then I did a residency in Florence, Italy, and I started looking at tabernacles and shrines.
I thought about weaving these shrines, weaving these pods, and adding materials. I love the action of the woven form and the coiling around the edges. That’s very meditative to me. And that’s what you see in the “Best of 2026”: pods with driftwood in them, things found on the beach.
Can you explain your process for making the pods?
They start on the loom as a flat piece, but while I’m weaving, I put spacers into the weave structure, which I pull out when I take it off the loom. I gather the warp in and once I start the shape, I refine it with the coiled edge. Then I decide what’s going in it, if it will go on the wall, what branch goes with that piece. I start with a general idea but refine it as I go. I often do a sketch—that’s my thought process. But when I’m actually making a piece, it changes so much; it evolves. I have to problem solve.
What are you looking forward to in your work?
Lately, I’ve gotten back into printmaking, and I’m creating sculptures combining woven and printed forms. I’ve been making prints and inserting them into the pods. I’m developing more installation pieces, and I’ve been toying with putting my work back in the woods. I did some of that when I was in Italy, but they were very small. Now I want to do large-scale installations in nature.
What do you enjoy about the Columbus arts scene?
It’s vibrant; I like the diversity of art and artists. I think the arts community here is really sharing and giving. We try to support each other, there’s not a lot of politics in the art world here.
Char’s work can be seen in the “Best of 2026,” a juried exhibition showcasing contemporary fine craft by 69 artists, on view May 3–July 3, 2026, at the Ohio Craft Museum. Juror Carol Sauvion, creator of the Peabody-award-winning PBS series, Craft in America, and the recently retired executive director of the Craft in America organization, selected 73 works in clay, glass, metal, wood, fiber and mixed media from nearly 400 entries.
