Common Threads

My Quilt National posts are going on hiatus for a bit while I report on another show that I have work in -- "Common Threads: Contemporary Textile Art in the Commonwealth."  It opened Saturday at the Claypool-Young Gallery in Morehead KY and will be up through July 29.

Perhaps the most spectacular pieces in the show were two quilts by Arturo Alonzo Sandoval, the longtime fiber art star who teaches at University of Kentucky.  He was a pioneer in using unorthodox materials in traditional woven and quilted forms -- his specialty is shiny and translucent or transparent stuff such as microfilm and Mylar.  The big quilts on display here feature holographic film, which glowed and shimmered, changing color as you looked from different angles.

Arturo Alonzo Sandoval, Pattern Fusion No. 10: Motherboard 1 (detail below)

One of the more provocative works (no pun intended) was this stitchery on top of a photo.

Candace von Loverin Geis, Britney Spears: Contractile Tissue (detail below)

Candace explained in her gallery remarks that as a kid, she was one of Britney Spears' backup singers when the pop queen was still a Disney Channel child star.

I liked this knitted work.

Stacey Chinn, It's What's For Dinner

Finally, here's a view of my quilt, Postage 4: Spaghetti Sauce, which was hung in the middle of the room instead of against a wall, which I had intended.  The "postage stamps" cascaded down and pooled on the floor, and the spaces around the "stamps" allowed you to see through to the other side.  An unexpected and pleasant surprise.