SAQA Exhibit in Paducah--Made in Europe

This year (2017) the Paducah School of Art and Design is hosting the SAQA Exhibit called Made in Europe. It is an exhibition of 30 art quilts from makers in the Studio Art Quilt Association (SAQA) European and Middle Eastern Region. The exhibit is in the Bill Ford Gallery within the PSAD's 2D and Graphic Design Building at 905 Harrison Street, is free, open to the public, and runs through May 18. Here are some of my favorites. (I'll list the title and maker in the narrative unless it is visible in the photo.)

(The left picture is the whole quilt; the photo on the right is a detail shot.) This quilt is called Fire and Ice (28" X 39") and is made by Maryte Collard from Lithuania. I like this one because of its graphic nature and hand stitching. I also like the color combination and work in those colors quite often myself.

 

(Again, the left picture is the whole quilt; the right is a detail shot. I'll post like that for all the photos unless I tell you otherwise.) This quilt is called Castelluccio--The Ghost Town (39" X 39") by DAMSS D. Arnoldi & M. Sarzi-Sartori from Italy. This is a VERY textural piece. It really reminds me of my trip to Italy a few years ago. I love those Tuscan colors.

This quilt (30" X 51") from Germany by Uta Lenk was intriguing to me because of a quilt I just finished on which I machine quilted several quotes. I know how difficult that was, so I could really appreciate the work that went into this quilt. Each letter has been (what looked like to me) free-hand machine embroidered onto the fabric. (You can see that on the inset detail shot.) The texture was REALLY nice.

I liked Troubled Waters (26" X 57") by Frieda Oxenham, United Kingdom, because of the handwork and beading. You can see that in the closeup shot. I also liked the flow of the pieces across the quilt. These peaceful water colors are more my sister's preference; she is an Aquarius. I, on the other hand, prefer the hot, hot red and orange fire-sign colors; I'm a Leo. 

This quilt, Black Sun (37" X 52") by Karin Ostergaard from Denmark, caught my eye because of the hand stitching at the top of the quilt. If you look closely you will see black stitching that represents those "clouds" of birds that morph into different shapes in the sky. I am ALWAYS amazed and fascinated when I have the privilege of seeing it. I also liked the subtle shapes of the birds and circles in the quilting around the large grasses in the bottom right of the quilt (and bottom right pic). I could almost imagine those "clouds" of birds moving and morphing as I looked at this quilt.

One Day (28" X 55") was made by Sandra Newton from the United Kingdom. This is another one of those quilts containing words. I am really drawn to text on quilts.  I don't know about you, but I really think that fiber art shows--quilt shows in particular--miss a really unique opportunity when the story of the piece is omitted. Case in point--the quilt above. I'd LOVE to know the maker's story of this quilt; I'm sure there is one. Don't you wonder what it means? I know I would enjoy the piece more if I knew.  I've heard fiber artists and gallery reps say things like, "Adding the story of the piece would not allow the viewer to interpret the piece the way they want to. It would give them "too much" information." Well, I (personally) don't think it takes anything away from the art to know the story. I go to museums and get the headsets so I can hear the "story" of the "fine art" paintings there. I find I have a better appreciation for and better understanding of the piece when I know more about it. I think the same would be true of quilts. My next post will include pictures from the show itself. I try to take pictures of quilts that did not win awards but are spectacular (or draw me in for some reason). I figure you'll see pictures of the winners in blogs, magazines, classes, TV, etc. I'm also going to have a "show & tell" of my purchases at the show. Check back.