Texas-born, LA-based Diedrick Brackens incorporates African, American, and European textile techniques in his work. As a gay, black man, Brackens often takes on the history, narratives, and material associations of marginalized identities. His weavings question our assumptions of how we value tapestry as a craft or art, who is traditionally in the position to use textiles, and what kinds of stories they can convey. In Log Cabin Study 3, felt tears drip from the surface of the tapestry, suggesting a hidden or unspoken story taking place behind the making of the work. Brackens received a BFA from UNT, Denton, and an MFA in textiles from California College of the Arts, Oakland. This year his work was the subject of a solo exhibition at the New Museum, New York. In 2019, he became the first recipient of the Marciano Artadia Award, and in 2018 he was awarded the Wein Prize by the Studio Museum in Harlem. Brackens is in the permanent collections of the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; LACMA, Los Angeles; the Brooklyn Museum; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
