SDA show 3 -- more prizewinners

There were several quilts in the SDA show, but only one was spectacular, and it took third prize:

Gerri Spilka, Interactions #22: Hinged (detail below)

This was a very large quilt (I should have taken a picture with somebody standing there for scale) and impeccably designed and crafted.  I liked the strong, clear colors and the quirky shapes -- banjos?  melons?  It was densely machine quilted.

I'm not sure what makes it "transgressive."  The artist tried to finesse her way around this question by describing it as "stepping off from traditional quilting methods and composition," but haven't we all, in this corner of the art/quilt world?  Fortunately, I don't put a lot of importance on sticking to show themes. I'm just glad the jurors voted this one in.

Gwen Lowery, Aurora Corona 1 (detail below)

This piece, which took an honorable mention, is also very large.  It's densely machine stitched onto canvas, then stretched onto five panels, hung slightly separated.  She used a commercial embroidery machine to execute the watery, abstracted design, perhaps an aurora, perhaps an out-of-focus flower.

I was intrigued by this piece because I too have been experimenting with dense machine stitching onto canvas (read about it here).  But the effect is totally different: mine bulges and waves while Lowery's is perfectly flat.  How nice to find so much potential variation within a single technique.

The show, "Transgressing Traditions," is co-sponsored by the Surface Design Association and the host Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center in Auburn NY.  It's up through  August 21.  I'll show you more work next week.

SDA show 2 -- second prize

Leslie Pearson, In Words Alone (detail below)

I think I liked this piece even better than the best in show, perhaps because the artist likes all the stuff I like.  From her artist statement:

"Be it handwritten letters, journals, old books, rusty metal, postage stamps, buttons, teeth, animal bones or bits of fabric -- my studio is filled with objects I've collected or unearthed.  I'm a scavenger for lost or forgotten things that have interesting textures, colors, and surfaces..."

This piece combines a body-like structure -- or maybe it's a tent or shelter --  made of gut stretched over a wire armature, with a snake of paper discs apparently cut from an old book.

I liked the contrast of the two materials, one dense and opaque, the other weightless and translucent.  I liked the casual curve of the endless tube, lifting up from the base and casting intriguing shadows.  Both sections were mysterious: the words of the book sequestered inside the tightly packed tube, the empty space inside the gut perhaps containing something ephemeral.

The show, "Transgressing Traditions," is co-sponsored by the Surface Design Association and the host Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center in Auburn NY.  It's up through  August 21.  Stay tuned for more work from the show!

SDA show 1 -- best in show

Had a great weekend attending the opening of the Surface Design Association juried show at the Schweinfurth Art Center in Auburn NY.  My piece "Unspooled" was not only in the show but got to be the postcard image, always a happy event.  There were lots of pieces in the show, and I am sorry to report that I was so busy listening to the juror and artists talk about the work, and of course to schmooze with people, that I didn't have time to properly look at every piece in the show.  So my report will be somewhat subjective.

First some remarks about the show theme, "Transgressing Tradition."  Some of the works were indeed nontraditional, using exotic materials or unfamiliar techniques.  But there was very little that was truly new (well, is there ever?) and every one of the exotic materials on display I've seen used in the past by other artists.  I do not say this as a criticism; in fact, I think sometimes show organizers bend too far over backwards to search out "new and different" when instead I wish they would be searching out "good."

I was more puzzled by the term "transgressing," which seems to have an overtone of naughtiness or outrageousness.  I didn't see much in the show that I would consider transgressive, but that's not a criticism either.  So never mind.  Just saying.

Here's the best in show:

Eszter Bornemisza, Next Page (details below)

It's a large piece, made from X-ray films held together in a stitched grid.  The top layer (the right-hand edge of which is folded forward and hangs free) shows a map of Budapest, Bornemisza's home town.  The bottom layer has a random array of letters, signs and symbols that you might find on a map,  There's a slight gap between the layers, hanging separately from the wall pegs, and the whole thing hangs an inch or so out from the wall so you get dramatic shadow effects.

You know I'm a sucker for grids, and for stitching across thin air to join pieces of stuff with space in between, so what's not to like about this piece?

I'll show you more from the exhibit in subsequent posts.

Photo suite 214 -- taking the gloves off

Using up leftovers

Perhaps you noticed when I showed pictures of my second flag quilt earlier this week that the back of the piece is quite a mishmash.  I'm deliberately using up leftovers in all phases of my flag quilts -- leftover chunks of batting, leftover and recycled fabrics for the quilt tops, and miscellaneous fabrics for backing.  Since I'm constructing the quilt in modules, it's easy to find some poor misbegotten piece of fabric the right size, or augment it, to back a small module.  Sometimes I'm using pieced work that never made it to prime time as backing.

The yellow composition at the top was made several weeks ago for my drawing and design class -- I got permission from the teacher to do some color exercises in fabric instead of in paint.  Then it made a fine quilt backing.  The log cabin square at the bottom came from somebody else's leftover bag.  The rest of the fabrics were given to me by somebody who wanted to get rid of her stash and didn't know that I don't much use commercial prints.  Except they were perfect for this project.

So here's what some of the back looks like now that the modules have been cut into stripes and rejoined.

My stash of fabric that was too good to throw away but not what I would ever use on a quilt top has gone down considerably, and I'm delighted with the scrappy, miscellaneous look.  Since these quilts are flags, I'm calling the backs melting pots.

How I sewed the flag together

Yesterday Camilla left a comment on my post about finishing my flag quilt, wondering how I sew the modules together.  Here's the step-by-step:

After each module is quilted, cut neat, straight edges.

Cut a narrow strip of fabric to stabilize the seam -- a little less than one inch wide.  Stitch it to one of the modules.

Butt the edges of the two modules and zigzag over the join.  I use a stitch that goes five stitches in one direction, then five stitches back.

Here's the finished seam.

All those loose threads caught under the quilting stitches are deliberate.  It is what you might call a distressed finish.

Sometimes I do additional stitching to join more strongly, or just because I feel like it.  Here's the back view.  This is pretty distressed as well, with raw edges and miscellaneous fabrics.  I'll write more about that in my next post.