Creative Statements 2

It's common to find nods to the designs and conventions of traditional quilts in contemporary works of fiber art.  Not surprising, since those of us who choose the quilt format must presumably have some fondness for the metaphorical baggage it carries.  I like to see those nods done gracefully, and here are some from the Creative Statements show, at the Zanesville Museum of Art through July 6.

Martha Warshaw, Textiles Nine Patch 6 

I'm showing you one of two quilts that were fraternal twins; when I was jurying the show I spent several minutes in front of a split screen trying to figure out whether they were identical and only after some scrutiny proved they were not.  I guess I didn't read the info submitted with the entries closely enough, because it wasn't till I saw the two pieces in person that I realized one is printed out on fabric and the other (the one pictured here) on mulberry paper.  Both are flat and almost abstract; I think they are based on black and white photos of draped fabric.

The block-to-block format clearly says "quilt" but most of the blocks aren't actually sewed together; they're printed out and the only seams are those required to join the widths of printed fabric or paper.  A nice reference to the traditions of quilting while moving beyond them.

Kris Worthington, Kimono (detail below)



















The kimono form is another time-honored tradition in fiber art; this one is an elegant composition of gorgeous hand-dyed fabrics, with both hand- and machine-stitching and a couple of discreet beads.

Sara Deever, SeventyTwoCircles (details below)

This may be the most traditional-looking quilt in the show, but up close you can see that it's really an homage to hand-stitching.  The circles (and a couple of non-circles) are densely embroidered onto various fabrics and assembled in a deliberately off-square block array.

Since I'm doing a daily hand-stitching project this year, I paid close attention to Sara's little designs and might just use some of them myself.