Artist

Gary Trentham

born Gleason, TN 1939
Media - portrait_image_113274.jpg - 90194
Courtesy Gary Trentham.
Also known as
  • Gary Lynn Trentham
Born
Gleason, Tennessee, United States
Active in
  • Auburn, Alabama, United States
Nationalities
  • American
Biography

Gary Trentham loved textiles from an early age, when his mother would dress him in unusual fabrics. He studied music in college, but soon switched to art history with studio classes in ceramics and weaving. He made his first basket while studying for his master of fine arts degree, and although he had no experience in basketmaking, he experimented with strips of corduroy and string to make a coiled, hollow form. Trentham has made baskets ever since, primarily from waxed linen, and enjoys twisting and knotting fabric to form "any shape I want."