Lost & Found (on top of everything else)
Will Grimm, MFA 2026, Fibers & Material Studies
“Lost & Found” is a series of love letters devoted to the intimacy of cloth and the narratives held within. Each collage-quilt-initial is assembled from discarded materials that were transformed via dyeing, scrunching, squishing, and stitching. These materials were scavenged from all corners of my life: my closet, my boyfriend’s closet, the streets of Philadelphia during a heat wave and trash union strike, the floor of the dye kitchen after the undergrads have had their way with it, etc… Stains, tears, and signs of wear are left intact while other sections are worked with needle and thread or plunged into a dyepot. This alchemy is an attempt to honor the material legacy and forge new agency. Much like cloth, text and language are integral parts of the human experience. Quite literally, I have been thinking about textiles as text (both share the Latin root texere, which means to weave). Each are so commonplace to the human experience & their combined abstraction has the power to invoke a deep personal resonance. Everybody gleefully brings their own perspective to the work. In a lot of ways I think they become mirrors, portals, and doorways for self reflection + introspection.
"Lost & Found" Installation View, Photo Credit: John Carlano
"Lost & Found" Installation View, Photo Credit: John Carlano
"Lost & Found" Installation View, Photo Credit: John Carlano
"Rosebuds" (detail) boyfriend’s towels (abandoned after mopping up cat piss); MX dye; backed with vintage wool blanket. 33” x 44”. Photo Credit: John Carlano
"Rosebuds" boyfriend’s towels (abandoned after mopping up cat piss); MX dye; backed with vintage wool blanket. 33” x 44”. Photo Credit: John Carlano
"O-Face" cotton fabric shreds, scraps, slivers, and rags collected from artist’s practice, donation bins, and trash cans in Tyler; overdyed yellow. 64” x 64”. Photo Credit: John Carlano
"O-Face" (detail) cotton fabric shreds, scraps, slivers, and rags collected from artist’s practice, donation bins, and trash cans in Tyler; overdyed yellow. 64” x 64”. Photo Credit: John Carlano
"X’d Out and Tied Up" gifted, thrifted, found, and donated ties; white(ish) textiles collected from streets, gutters, and trash piles around campus; background quilt made in 2020 by artist and overdyed. 65” x 65”. Photo Credit: John Carlano
"X’d Out and Tied Up" (detail) gifted, thrifted, found, and donated ties; white(ish) textiles collected from streets, gutters, and trash piles around campus; background quilt made in 2020 by artist and overdyed. 65” x 65”. Photo Credit: John Carlano
"Teeny" tapes, trims, lanyards, shoelaces, and ribbons collected by artist; donation bin sherpa; athletic tape frame stuffed with batting scraps; copious amounts of glue. 60” x 62”. Photo Credit: John Carlano
"Teeny" (detail) tapes, trims, lanyards, shoelaces, and ribbons collected by artist; donation bin sherpa; athletic tape frame stuffed with batting scraps; copious amounts of glue. 60” x 62”. Photo Credit: John Carlano
"Diggin’ My Heel into the F Word" artists’ worn out/busted out/forgotten/lost crusty socks collected between 2015-2025; backed with vintage wool blanket. 37” x 54”. Photo Credit: John Carlano
"Diggin’ My Heel into the F Word" (detail) artists’ worn out/busted out/forgotten/lost crusty socks collected between 2015-2025; backed with vintage wool blanket. 37” x 54”. Photo Credit: John Carlano
"Flooded" hand-stitched post-mortem dye kitchen rags. 14” x 24”. Photo Credit: John Carlano
"My Big Ass A" t-shirts, shorts, tank tops, jeans found on street and dyed brown; pink pants and grey blanket found on trash day; background quilts made in 2020 by artist dyed and bleached. 74” x 90”. Photo Credit: John Carlano
"Flooded," (detail) hand-stitched post-mortem dye kitchen rags. 14” x 24”. Photo Credit: John Carlano
"My Big Ass A" (detail) t-shirts, shorts, tank tops, jeans found on street and dyed brown; pink pants and grey blanket found on trash day; background quilts made in 2020 by artist dyed and bleached. 74” x 90”. Photo Credit: John Carlano
Will Grimm began sewing at a young age under the guidance of his grandmother. He earned a BFA in Fiber from Maryland Institute College of Art in 2019 and an MFA in Fibers & Material Studies from Tyler School of Art in 2026. His intricately dyed & quilted textile-collages have been exhibited nationally, including at Visions Quilt Museum in San Diego, CA and at Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Art in Cedarburg, WI. His work can be seen in publications such as BMore Art, Fiber Art Now, and Curated Quilts. He worked at Praxis Fiber Workshop in Cleveland, OH as Studio Manager, Gallery Manager, and Program Manager. He has been a visiting artist at Cleveland Institute of Art and Denison College, among others. Grimm is the proud father of one studio cat and when not sewing, can be found playing his Game Boy or reading scary stories.
Website: willgrimm.com
Instagram: @_willgrimm_

