MERYL LETTIRE

ARTIST BIO

Meryl Lettire is a textile assemblage artist whose work is rooted in memory, storytelling, and a deep belief in the power of portraiture to honor humanity. She earned a BFA in Communication Design from Pratt Institute and an MA in Education from St. Peter’s University—foundations that continue to shape her research-driven, narrative approach to making.

During the 1980s and ’90s, Lettire built a successful career in illustration and fine arts, creating work for publications and clients including The New York Times, Billboard, Estée Lauder, Random House, and Scholastic. Her work was featured in multiple Society of Illustrators exhibitions and represented by Schulte Galleries in New York and New Jersey.

In the 1990s, her path shifted toward education. For more than two decades, Lettire taught art while continuing to nurture her studio practice, earning recognition from the NJ Commission on Holocaust Education and the Anti-Defamation League, the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

In 2023, Lettire returned fully to her art practice, focusing on textile assemblage portraiture. Her recent series, The Madonnas and Heroes of the Holocaust, have been exhibited at ArtWRKD and the Kean University Human Rights Institute Gallery. Her newest series, Upstanders, honors individuals who actively confront antisemitism today. Across all her work, layered textiles become acts of remembrance—quiet, deliberate gestures that invite reflection, empathy, and connection.


ARTIST STATEMENT

My work is grounded in the belief that portraiture can be an act of reverence, remembrance, and resistance. Through textile assemblage, I create layered portraits that honor individuals whose lives embody courage, creativity, and humanity. Fabric is both my medium and my language—rich with associations of labor, care, survival, and history. By assembling fragments of cloth, I build images that reflect both historical context and contemporary urgency.

I approach textiles as one might paint, layering color, texture, and pattern to create depth, nuance, and emotional resonance. The slow, deliberate process of selecting, cutting, and adhering fabric is deeply contemplative. It allows time for reflection and for a quiet dialogue to develop between myself and my subjects. Each portrait is constructed piece by piece, echoing ideas of rebuilding and restoration, as if the act of making becomes a form of devotion and witness.

My ongoing series Heroes of the Holocaust honors artists who resisted oppression through creative expression, asserting humanity in the face of unimaginable brutality. The Madonnas celebrate women whose lives and legacies illuminate strength, intellect, and transformation. In this series, the term “Madonna” moves beyond religious iconography to become a universal archetype—artists, thinkers, activists, and cultural changemakers whose influence continues to shape our world.

Most recently, my practice has expanded into Upstanders, a series focused on individuals who actively confront antisemitism today. Drawing inspiration from walls of remembrance and memorial spaces, this work seeks to record and honor those who refuse silence, reminding us that moral courage is not confined to the past.

Across all my work, layered textiles transform ordinary materials into acts of memory and connection. I hope these portraits invite viewers into a shared humanity—encouraging empathy, reflection, and an awareness of our responsibility to engage, respond, and act with compassion.