Marilyn Emerson Holtzer is an artist, a craftswoman, and a scientist. After first majoring in fashion design in the School of Fine Arts at Washington University in Saint Louis, she changed her focus to math and science, and holds an A.B. in mathematics and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Washington University in Saint Louis. Her scientific side, especially her interest in the logic of mathematics and the order of the physical world, is evident in her weavings, which include patterns and designs ranging from small motifs to bold geometrics in repetitive, but not-quite repetitive, symmetric, but not-quite symmetric, arrays.

Her lifelong fascination with systematic and orderly progressions and with repetitive patterns has strongly influenced her vocation and art, and her pursuit of innovations in weaving techniques. She does not remember a time when she did not know how to thread a needle or how to make stitches, and as a child she spent countless hours crocheting long, floppy strands of yarn into the orderly structures of potholders and hats. Later as a research scientist she studied how long, floppy protein chains assemble themselves into the orderly structures that help muscles function. The protein molecules she studied in the lab are microscopic analogs of the silk and wool fibers she uses in her weavings.

She is a largely self-taught weaver and her weavings, which include art for the wall and the home as well as for the body, the soul, and the mind. have been exhibited both locally and nationally and have received many awards. A series of her weavings inspired by motifs in folded and folding proteins, “FIBER FOLDING: A NEW TWIST ON AN OLD THEME”, comprised a solo exhibit in the atrium gallery of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington D. C. Her recent body of work includes nine intricately-woven tapestries, inspired by physical and mental challenges she experienced during her journey through three courses of chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant.

In addition, she has written several articles about her work and the work of others for national and local publications, and she is co-author of A Tablet Weaver’s Pattern Book by John Mullarky, Marilyn Emerson Holtzer, Luise Hoffman, Jo Ann Treumann, and Bonnie White.  One of her innovative weaving techniques has been described in Geometric Design in Weaving by Else Regensteiner and another in Techniques in Tablet Weaving by Peter Collingwood. She is a long-time member of the Weavers’ Guild of St. Louis (Honorary Life Member, and past President, Secretary, and Treasurer), Handweavers Guild of America, St. Louis Artists’ Guild, American Crafts Council, and the Biophysical Society.

Holtzer feels that art and science coexist in complementary and harmonious ways in her work, whether conceived and accomplished in the lab or at the loom.