Form, Not Function

I got to go to the opening reception of Form, Not Function at The Carnegie in New Albany, Indiana. I have to say, I really enjoyed myself--good music, wine, food, and great art. This is the tenth anniversary of Form, Not Function: Quilt Art at the Carnegie, and the art will be on display from May 10-July 13, 2013. Since this is the tenth anniversary, a catalogue has been printed for the 2013 exhibition and is available for purchase. The Carnegie has planned what they call a "Summer of Fiber Art" with Form, Not Function being followed by an exhibition of artworks by the members of the Louisville Area Fiber and Textile Artists (LAFTA) that will be on view July 26 - October 5, 2013.

I only took a few pictures at the show; I wanted to whet your appetite to view the exhibit in person. My first pictures are of a three-dimensional piece by Linda Witte Henke called Generosity. This piece was given the Award for Political and Social Commentary presented by Kathleen Loomis on opening night. Here is Linda with her piece.

This is the narrative that goes with the piece.

Generosity

(1 Kings 17:8-24)

Scripture describes an impoverished widow who provided hospitality to the prophet Elijah at the height of a devastating drought and famine. After generously sharing what little she had, her depleted supplies of grain and oil were miraculously replenished.

Thirst. Hunger.

Drought is both lack of water and longing for refreshment; famine is both absence of food and yearning for fullness.

Hoarding. Sharing.

We struggle to discern what our humanity asks of us, justifying our choices with tales of abundance and scarcity, ignoring the essential emptiness at the root of our struggle, turning away from the one Source able to satisfy our deepest longings.

Look with compassion on my circumstance. Empathize with my dilemma. But, both in times of abundance and scarcity, remember my generosity and practice the miracle of sharing.

I took this close up so you would have some idea of the complicated surface design of the cloth used to construct the piece.

Close up of Generosity.

The winner of the 2013 Best of Show is Betty Busby's Retia. This piece is made of hand-woven cotton, velvet, mohair, cotton cording, and kitchen string. It is hand and machine quilted and includes hand couching. If you look closely at the piece, you will see that the piece has many seed stitches.

I have been a big fan of Betty Busby since the first time I saw her work. The subject matter is always interesting, the design is spot on, and the quality of work is meticulous.

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A Bit More from the Indianapolis Museum of Art

Inspiration comes from many places. I find that a visit to an art museum fires my creativity like almost nothing else. I have already shared many of my pictures from my last visit to the IMA, but I wanted to share these things that also caught my eye.

First of all, I'm a big fan of El Anatsui from Ghana. I especially love his huge pieces that look to me like giant metal "quilt tops." The texture, color, and immenseness of the pieces draw me in. The IMA has one of those pieces, but photographs of it are not allowed. I guess I really thought he only did these huge pieces, so I was surprised to find a small piece (called Sacred Comb) that belonged to him.

I love the bright colors against the neutral wooden background. The delicate lines "etched" into the wood remind me of some of the "doodling" I've been using in some of my own pieces. He says of this piece, "The small areas of bright colors represent kente cloth, while the curved lines are similar to designs found in textiles, body art, and sculpture from southeast Nigeria."

As you know (if you know me or you have read my blog for any length of time), I love bold colors and bold geometric shapes. These pieces will definitely serve as inspiration for some new pieces.

There were a few more textile pieces I really liked...

Among the Igbo people of Nigeria, artists who make masquerade outfits such as this are called "people who weave body spirit." It is the artist's task to connect the spirit world with the human world through their work. This costume would have been worn by a male performer mimicking spirit maidens. The bright colors of the appliquéd costume reflect the body paint used by the women of the Igbo community.

 

You need to see a close up of this cloth to see how it is made. The "lines" look to be appliquéd to the background of the piece. Some of it looks like it was corded or thread was used to embellish the appliquéd lines.

What inspires you?

 

 

 

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Update--Goals

I have been encouraged to set some goals for myself concerning my fiber art. One of those goals is to enter my work in some exhibitions with the hope of getting some of the pieces juried into some shows. I'm happy to say I am actively working on this goal.

Currently, I have a piece ("Zen"--you can see it in my Gallery Page on the menu at the top of this post) in the Black and White Expo, an on-line exhibition in the Infinity Art Gallery. All mediums and styles were eligible for this exhibit. The juror of the exhibition was Susan Lowdermilk, Book Artist and Printmaker. The exhibition is on line now through June 13, 2013, at http://www.infinityartgallery.com/black-and-white-2013/gallery/.

"Prayer at Sunset" (also on my Gallery Page) has been juried into 7-Stitch: Contemporary Textile Art from Kentucky & the Surrounding States, hosted at the Claypool-Young Art Gallery at Morehead State University, June 1-August 30, 2013. Jane Dunnewold was the juror for this exhibition.

It isn't an easy thing--to put one's "babies" up for scrutiny and possible rejection. I try to reconcile myself to the fact that not everyone will like my work. When a piece doesn't get into an exhibition, I hope that it is just because that particular piece didn't "play well" with the other pieces. Does it ever get easier?

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Beading Extravaganza--Indianapolis Museum of Art

The Indianapolis Museum of Art has a section of African artifacts that I find SO appealing. I am always amazed at the exquisite workmanship of the artisans. During this visit, my main focus was on the beadwork on display. I do a bit of beadwork on my own fiber pieces, so I have a real appreciation for the time-consuming work involved in these pieces. I love to use pieces like these as inspiration for some of the fiber pieces I make. I am really drawn to the bold colors, geometric shapes, and exquisite detail in these pieces. Maybe you will find some inspiration for some new pieces yourself!

This first piece is a woman's shoulder garment from the Dinka people from Sudan. It is made of glass beads, cowrie shells, and metal wire and is very lacy and delicate.

This chief's hat--Pende people, Democratic Republic of Congo--(made of fiber and glass beads) would be worn for important public appearances, rituals, and ceremonies. Among the Kuba and the Pende, finely made hats embellished with valuable materials, like imported glass beads, are important prestige possessions for royal titleholders. I love the bright colors and geometric shapes on this piece.

I was just fascinated with the beaded hats made by the African artisans. Below, you will see hats/crowns made by the Yoruba people from Nigeria. Royal rulers wear distinct crowns for different rituals and public occasions, but the most important and sacred one is the cone-like crown known as the "great crown." While wearing this crown, the ruler is so powerful that his or her face must be veiled to protect other people.

I love the shape of this "crown."

The eyes on this "crown" protrude from the piece.

The way the figures "jump" from the background of this "crown" make it truly unique.

Now, this piece is FABULOUS. The detail in the face and birds is AMAZING. I'd love to examine these pieces more closely to see the base upon which these beaded pieces are built.

The last piece I'll show you today is also from the Yoruba people. It is referred to at the exhibit as a pillow, but it looks more like what we would call a small ottoman. It is made of cloth, glass beads and leather.

I have some more pictures I'd like to share--some beaded pieces and more. I'll be posting those in the next few days. If you'd like to see them, check back.

 

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Mola Exhibit at the Indianapolis Museum of Art

I have been writing about my recent trip to the IMA. What a wonderful place! There is a Mola Exhibit--Kuna Needle Arts from the San Blas Islands in Panama. The Kuna (or Guna) Indians are the indigenous people who live on small coral islands in the San Blas Archipelago along the Atlantic coast of Panama and Colombia. This is a small exhibit, but it is definitely worth a look. I took some pictures, but keep in mind that the colors are way more brilliant than what shows up in the pictures.

Mola, which originally meant bird plumage, is the Kuna Indian word for clothing, specifically blouse. The word mola has come to mean the elaborate embroidered panels that make up the front and back of a Kuna woman's traditional blouse.

Molas are handmade using reverse appliqué. Several layers (usually two to seven) of different-colored cloth (usually cotton) are sewn together; the design is then formed by cutting away parts of each layer. The edges of the layers are then turned under and sewn down. Often, the stitches are nearly invisible. This is achieved by using a thread color that matches the layer being sewn, using a blind stitch to sew down the turned under edge, and sewing with very tiny stitches. The finest molas have extremely fine stitching and may take three to five weeks (or more) to complete.

If you get a chance, check these out in person. In the meantime, enjoy these photos. (Take a close look at the stitching on these molas. On most computers, you can click on the picture to get a larger version. If you are using an iPad, you can usually expand the picture using the "pinch and release" method.)

The fish are pretty obvious, but I think these big figures look like bats. What do you think?

 

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More from IQF, Cincinnati, 2013

This is my last post on the International Quilt Festival in Cincinnati. Again, I have to say that I thought that the quality of quilts was up from previous years. Here are a few more quilts that caught my attention.

The first picture is of a quilt made by Heather Pregger called Tuning Fork #6. The quilt is machine pieced and machine quilted. She says, "I love the tuning fork motif--I love to enlarge it, reduce it, skew it, interlock it. This is the sixth quilt in the series." I'm really attracted to the colors in this quilt.

Close up below.

In my latest work, I have been using black, white, and red. I guess that is one of the reasons I was attracted to this quilt called Black and White 1 by Eti David. It was in the Hands All Around 2012 exhibit sponsored by Quilter's Newsletter. Eti says, "Our world is full of opposites: cold/warm, long/short, good/bad and so on. In my quilt, the opposites are represented by the colors black and white. But, there is a hint of red--it's the hope of a calmer life and fewer extreme opposites."

I am interested in learning how to do paper lamination, so maybe that is why I was so attracted to the quilt below. I felt like this was a very effective use of that technique. The quilt is called Rost and was made by Claudia Helmer. She says, "In summer 2009, I visited a former ironworks which is now an industrial museum in Hattingen, Germany. I was fascinated by the rusty parts of the building and took a lot of photographs. This piece is a reminiscence on the importance of coal, black gold which brought great prosperity to the Ruhr area in the 19th century. By the end of the 20th century, the industry had declined bringing the whole area down with it. The richness and the variety of the former industrial buildings are now treasures for inspiration, memory and art."

Close up.

I have a series of quilts using bias strips, so I had to take a picture of this quilt. I love how the maker has used stripes in this piece. The quilt is called At Sunset-At Sunrise by Gabrielle Paquin. She says, "I particularly like stripes and any striped system. So, I use striped fabrics for creating quilts. For that, I play in creating new striped designs, sometimes in abstract domain, sometimes in stylized figurative domain."

Of course, when I go to Cincinnati the trip just wouldn't be complete without a trip to IKEA! This is what the back of our vehicle looked like when we left Cincinnati.

I am now the proud owner of an Expedite bookshelf. It is still in boxes on the floor of my studio--not sure when I'll have time to get the thing put together.

 

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