Letting the Materials Lead: The Art of Angela Scozzari

A Thread of Intuition: The Fiber Art of Angela Scozzari

An award-winning textile artist whose materials whisper the direction of each new creation.

Some artists begin with a detailed plan. Angela Scozzari, an award-winning fiber artist, begins with materials. Rusted metal with rich color. Tulle trimmed from ballet tutus. Cream Cheviot wool waiting to be transformed into vibrant hues. For Angela, the story emerges when the materials are allowed to speak first and show where the work wants to go.

Meet Angela

Angela’s path as an artist is one of intuition and discovery. She is self-taught, starting her journey with a small crochet pamphlet. This was followed by making quilts for her grandchildren and then freeform wall pieces sewn from hand-painted scraps. Soon, found objects made their way into her studio, with weathered metal becoming a favorite for its organic shapes and complex colors. In 2017, she shifted her primary focus to fiber, began entering shows, and quickly earned recognition for her unique work.

Her roots in making run deep. Both of her grandmothers were seamstresses, and one also loved to knit and crochet. While Angela didn't learn these skills directly from them as a child, she notes that working with fiber felt familiar from the very beginning. A retired Montessori teacher, Angela’s love for teaching continues to be a core part of her identity. From her home studio, she builds community by teaching children and adults how to process fiber, spin, card, and weave.

How She Works

Inspiration for Angela comes from the natural world and from the materials themselves. A textured, hand-spun skein or a found object can spark an entire project. To invite this spontaneous action, she keeps her supplies visible. Fibers are sorted by color into large glass jars. Finished skeins hang on a long copper pipe, creating a yarn wall that is both a piece of art and a practical color library for weaving. Angela works most days, trusting that ideas will arrive through the work of her hands.

Featured Works

Signature Project: Nine T Cells

This powerful installation began with eight pounds of cream Cheviot wool from Revolution Fibers. Angela hand-dyed and hand-carded the wool into textured batts, which she then spun into art yarn. With no set plan, she began to knit, and long, organic Möbius forms grew from her needles, each reaching about nine feet long. The nine resulting forms were woven with copper wire so they could bend like helices. Each was finished uniquely with materials like glass beads, wooden beads, twigs wrapped with sari silk threads, and pieces of copper pipe.

Finally, she added brass bells as a symbol of hope in honor of her late brother, who fought a long battle with brain cancer. During his treatment, his T cell count dropped to nine—a number that kept appearing in the work and ultimately gave the piece its name. In 2018, Nine T Cells received Best of Show at the Naples Art Association.

“As an artist I must follow what I am being guided to make even when I do not know what I am making... when I push through the unknown with my work I am usually satisfied with the finished product.” — Angela Scozzari

Alchemy: A Weaving Dyed With Ballet

This piece, which Angela calls "pink sass," draws from her work as a costume dyer for Ballet Palm Beach. She dyed natural Cheviot wool from Revolution Fibers in the same dye bath as tutus for the ballet Paquita. She then spun the yarn and wove it on a rigid heddle loom with off-cuts from the tutus themselves.

Church Windows: Stitched Collage

An award-winning wall piece, Church Windows is a stunning field of tiny, intricate collages. Each square features hand-painted linen and cotton, sari silk, tulle, hand-spun yarns, and found objects. The work received Second Place at Lighthouse Gallery in Jupiter, Florida, in 2023.

Barn Weaving: Rustic and Alive

This weaving began with natural Cheviot Top from Revolution Fibers with what Angela calls "the most amazing sheep smell". She dyed, carded, and spun the wool into lively art yarns. She warped a Schacht Flip rigid heddle loom and wove with purples, blues, golds, and earthy greens. Before she could even trim the braided warp threads, the piece sold! It now hangs in a large shadow box in a modern barn in Northeast Harbor, Maine.

Being. Staying. Doing.

In 2020, Angela began a series of 26 small, hand-stitched works created over 18 months. Using fiber offcuts, discards, tiny scraps of wood, and rusted metal, she created pieces that fit inside a shoebox. The series was a way to process the uncertainty of the global shutdown and find lessons in love, acceptance, and forgiveness.

“Art is so healing and so necessary...” — Angela Scozzari

Materials and Techniques

“Taking white fluff and creating something new and organic excites me. The possibilities are endless.” — Angela Scozzari

Angela enjoys mixing a wide variety of fibers, including sheep wool, alpaca, mohair, bamboo, sari silk, and even stinging nettle. As a spinner, she chases texture, creating beehives, coils, pigtails, and other unique art yarns. She rarely spins fine yarn. She uses three SpinOlution wheels and, as a dealer for the company, uses the beginner-friendly wheels to teach lessons to students of all ages.