Artists who use textiles in their work?

Are there any artists who use traditional craft in their contemporary work?

• I am trying to put together an essay for my course work but am struggling to find reliable/ substantial information or inspiration for this piece. Basically I am going to write my essay about artists/designers who use traditional crafts either as inspiration or methods in their work. By traditional crafts, I mean - knitting, carpentry, embroidery, etc. 'lost arts' - that kinda thing and how they use these in new contemporary ways. Even if the craft is actually their subject matter as opposed to the method they use - that would also work. They can be anything from a painter to a designer to a sculptor but my two specialisms this year are textile design and sculpture so I'd prefer an artist from either specialism. Thanks in advance!

• Answer:

  I've come upon a german artist named Gabriele Schnitzenbaumer that I loved so much that I managed not to forget her name... haha. She mixed past crafts with some modern devices, she's obviously influenced by African and primitive art and she blends clay with iron...etc. Or there's also Rebecca Lowry but I don't think it's really what you're looking for but she does some kind of knit... here's a sample of her works http://www.artslant.com/global/artists/show/808-rebecca-lowry?tab=ARTWORKS . About painting, I'm sure you could find many stuffs around Pop Art and Nouveau Réalisme. For instance the japanese who were sometimes inspired by the traditional Ukiyo-e...etc. About embroidery, there's the talented Maurizio Anzeri. Also, there's Steve Bishop using taxidermy and neons lights but I'm not sure that's what you need here... Have you already gathered many artists? cause I might be interested as well actually :)