Madailein (Maddy) Walter-Sherretts’ practice is rooted in the belief that textiles hold a language of their own—a vocabulary of line, thread, color, and touch capable of communicating connection, memory, and emotion in ways words cannot. Working within fibers allows her to merge craft, experimentation, and sustainability, creating work grounded in materiality yet expansive in meaning.

Much of Walter-Sherretts’ work draws on her heritage and the spaces where inheritance feels both present and interrupted. Korean bojagi traditions have become central to her process, offering a framework to explore mending, fragmentation, and cultural continuity. Through piecing scraps, repurposing discarded cloth, and working with sustainable fibers, she reflects on how identity is shaped by what is passed down, what is lost, and what can be reclaimed through making.

Geometric structures—lattices, grids, spirals, and synesthetic visual patterns—guide the formal qualities of her textiles. These forms echo systems found in nature and across cultures, speaking to a universal desire for order and meaning. Drawing from her background in graphic design and quilting, she balances precision and repetition with the intuitiveness and imperfection of handwork, emphasizing a tactile, embodied process.

Walter-Sherretts’ work continues to evolve as she explores themes of connection, spirituality, cultural representation, and the quiet power of everyday materials. Through fibers, she seeks to weave together past and present, tradition and innovation, material and meaning.

She graduated with her BA in Graphic Design and a minor in Psychology from the University of Saint Mary in Spring 2024 and is currently pursuing her MFA in Fibers at the Savannah College of Art and Design, with an expected graduation in Spring 2027.