37 used to discuss identity and fluidity. Academic and feminist-led charges to dismantle the hierarchies assigned to craft mediums, which disproportionately affect not only women artists but also those from non-Western contexts, have broadened the canon to embrace textile-focused artists such as Amaral, Ruth Asawa, Sheila Hicks, and El Anatsui, among others. Canonical examples from the contemporary artists referenced earlier (Kounellis, Sandback, Christo and Jean-Claude, and Soto) exemplify the tenuousness of these distinc- tions as they use the same materials as textile craft: wool, fabric, and thread. Perhaps the true alchemical transformation is the radical shift of the fiber-based artist in recent decades. The departmental philosophy at Cranbrook reflects the current openness of the field: “As artists, our intimate relationship with the traditional forms of fiber interacts with the expanse of contemporary practice in art, craft, and design, challenging the definitions of each. Whether the work we produce manifests itself as a sculptural form, garment, functional object, tapestry weaving, socially engaged community practice, digital output, or some- thing else we cannot currently name, we embrace it as a mode of exploration.” 15 Amaral’s personal development over the six decades of her career mirrors developments in society, resulting in increased artistic agency and the reevaluation of art historical narratives. Beyond its own ingenuity and masterful skill, Amaral’s practice—experimental during its time, trans- formative in its impact—has influenced this ethos of creative freedom. NOTES 1 Lawrence M. Principe, “Alchemy Restored,” Isis 102, no.2 (2011): 305–12. 2 Olga de Amaral, interview by Laura Mott and Anna Walker, Bogotá, Colombia, June 28, 2019. 3 Ibid. 4 T’ai Lin Smith, Bauhaus Weaving Theory: From Feminine Craft to Mode of Design (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2014), 26–29. 5 Elizabeth A.T. Smith, “‘What can be done, what I must learn, what there is to do…’: Process, Materials, and Narrative in the 1950s,” in Revolution in the Making: Abstract Sculpture by Women 1947–2016 , ed. Paul Schimmel (Los Angeles: Hauser & Wirth, 2016), 18–33. 6 Charles Talley, “Olga de Amaral,” American Craft 48, no.2 (April/May 1988): 40. 7 Robert Smithson, “Entropy and the New Monuments,” in Robert Smithson: The Collected Writings , ed. Jack Flam (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996), 11. 8 In Greek mythology, Narcissus was so enchanted by his own reflection in a pool of water that he died, leaving behind the Narcissus flower. 9 Germano Celant, Arte Povera (New York: Praeger, 1969), 225. 10 Germano Celant, “Jannis Kounellis,” Domus 515 (October 1972): 55. 11 David Bourdon, “Land Art,” in Designing the Earth: The Human Impulse to Shape Nature (New York: Abrams, 1995), 208–10. 12 Talley, “Olga de Amaral,” 38. 13 Ibid., 40. 14 Iria Candela, “The Risk of Invention,” in Lygia Pape (New York:The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2017), 2. 15 Mark Newport, “Cranbrook Academy of Art: Fiber Department,” Cranbrook Academy of Art, accessed December 1, 2019, https://cranbrookart.edu/departments/fiber.