Textile Artist to Exhibit Work at UW-Waukesha

A high school art teacher who sells her textile work through the Ann Nathan Gallery in Chicago, Zetzman has been sewing since she was nine years old and a member of 4H. Working in textiles is something personal for her. “I love them,” she says.The centerpiece of this exhibit, a 6 foot by 6 foot quilt made of materials gathered on a trip to Nepal in 1998. It is an image of Dakini (Demon Goddess) from the waist up. Traditionally she is represented nude with red flesh. Zetzman has dressed her, however, in a chow bund cholo (blouse with four ties), the national dress of Nepal. A good demon in Nepalese cosmology, Dakini is invoked to battle an evil demon on the prayer’s behalf. The blouse is made of traditional hand-woven Daka cloth. Her face and hand, which alone took approximately 185 hours to create, are done with cotton thread in Russian punch embroidery.Besides the textile works, Zetzman will show some recent puppets, including three she made for the Appleton Christmas parade. Several will be posed atop columns with planters and have hands that can be adjusted. Her question here is “What do our plants have to say about the household?” She’ll also have a “wall puppet,” which is a cross between a framed wall piece and a 3D moveable puppet.Finally, she will display a group of wheel-thrown ceramic figures that she fashioned in December.She graduated from UW-Eau Claire with a BA in studio art and art history, then traveled to Southeast Asia before returning to school for teacher certification. She has completed course work toward a master of science degree in theology from St. Norbert College, DePere. Now a teacher at Xavier High School in Appleton, Zetzman also works with elementary school-aged children.Her work has been featured and described in a book, Contemporary Pictorial Quilts, by Levitt, and has been purchased for display in several private collections, including that of Chicago painter Hollis. Sigler. The Basilica of St. Mary and the Jeremiah House in Minneapolis each own one of her quilts as well.

Zetzman lives in Appleton with her husband, Frank, an art faculty member at UW-Fox Valley, and their three children.