A work by Joel Fremion, a Fort Wayne-based artist who works in fabric collage. Fremion’s work will be featured in an exhibition at Franklin College, with a lecture and opening reception set for Feb. 6.
SUBMITTED PHOTO | JOEL FREMION
Every work of art comes together like a massive puzzle.
Pieces of fabric, leather and other materials are placed in just the right position. Artist Joel Fremion spends hours moving swatches around to get the depth and texture of the image he hopes to create — portraits, landscapes, architectural features.
Paint on top only accentuates the work.
“I consider them small building projects,” he said. “There is a process and a series of steps, much like a renovation project. There’s a lot of planning, and a step-by-step process to follow.
“I’m taking an image and dissecting it.”
Fremion has built a reputation for making fascinating pieces of art through a process he calls “fabric collage.” His work has found its way into collections all over the region, and has earned him dozens of awards at art shows in Indiana, Illinois and beyond.
His art will be on display starting Feb. 5 at Franklin College for an exhibition titled “Painting with Fabric.” The exhibition will open with a lecture and reception, which the public is invited to attend.
Fremion hopes that his work helps expand the boundaries of what art can be, particularly for young artists.
“When you get out of school, you want to take all of those things you’ve learned and make them own. You’re striving for the extraordinary,” he said. “You want to learn the basics, then you want to get out and do what makes you feel really good.”
Fremion, a Fort Wayne resident, knows fabric intimately. Growing up, he would spend hours in his grandparents’ upholstery and custom drapery shop. Adding to his experience, his mother was an interior designer who worked in the shop.
Though initially interested in architecture and interior design, he also found painting and fine arts to be intriguing. He attended classes for a few years at Indiana University in Bloomington before changing tack and enrolling at Purdue Fort Wayne to take an architectural design and interior design program.
“The architectural designer who was teaching the program was also a very good painter. He recognized that I had drawing skills,” Fremion said.
The instructor urged Fremion to take some painting classes at the Fort Wayne Art Institute. He took four semesters of it, but never felt fully comfortable with it. He told his professor that he was “beating his paintings to death,” never finding a complete painting, he said.
“One of my professors, knowing I had fabric in my background, made it a class project that everyone do something out of the box and use materials they’d never worked in,” he said. “I took a 3D Picasso sculpture and turned it into a large wall tapestry in fabric.”
The project was a jumping off point for Fremion’s current focus, even if it took him more than 15 years before he gained momentum in it. In his 20s, he became more immersed in the design field. He also worked with his parents to buy properties as investments, including a large commercial building.
Over the years, he dabbled in businesses in antiques, art and crafts and mid-century modern furniture.
“The antique business allowed me to stay close to art, because I traveled as a dealer, doing shows all over the country and going to the museums wherever I was at,” he said.
The return to fine art came when Fremion’s sister was getting married. His mother asked him to do a painting for a wedding gift. He picked back up painting, but again came to the realization he did as a student — that he didn’t enjoy the style.
Instead, he started doing collage again.
“It was like getting together with an old friend and realizing that it was an interesting process,” he said.
Fremion fell back in love with collage making. His pieces intricately blended fabric and leather to create scenes that could be further enhanced with painted details. The incredibly detailed pieces capture aspects of the scene that otherwise couldn’t be realized.
“The paint has become a way I can get even more detailed,” he said.
Since 1991, he’s produced about 350 collages.
“Peers laugh at me, because a lot of painters do that much in a year. I tell them these are labors of love. They take me a while to do,” he said.
Over the years, Fremion has received numerous awards for his artwork, including a Jury Prize of Distinction in the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s Indiana Artists 86th Annual Exhibit, a Best of Category, 2-D Mixed Award in the Midwest Salute to the Arts at Fairview Heights, Illinois, and a Best of Show in the South Bend “For the Love of Art” exhibit.
He has also received several awards from the Hoosier Salon, ranging from Best Work, First-Time Exhibitor in 1992 to the Jury Prize of Distinction in 2012 to Juror’s Special Award in 2022.
“Painting with Fabric” will be a chronological story of Fremion’s artwork, starting with his earliest pieces showing the evolution of his approach.
He will open the exhibit with a lecture about his work and process at 7 p.m. Feb. 6, in the Henderson Conference Room, located on the second floor of the Johnson Center for Fine Arts on Franklin College’s campus. An opening reception will follow the lecture. The public is invited to view Fremion’s work at this event.
Franklin College faculty, staff and students with a valid college ID card may view the exhibit 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, Feb. 6 through March 31.
IF YOU GO
Joel Fremion exhibition
What: A lecture and opening reception for “Painting with Fabric,” the new exhibition by Fremion, a Fort Wayne artist who works in fabric collage.
When: 7 p.m. Feb. 6
Where: Henderson Conference Room, Johnson Center for the Fine Arts, Franklin College campus at the corner of Branigin Boulevard and Grizzly Drive.
Cost: The event is free and open to the public, who will also have the chance to see the exhibition.
