Awed, Quivering, and Elevated, I took in the AQE show at its opening this evening. Art Quilt Elements (formerly Art Quilts at the Sedgwick) is a biennial, juried show taking place at the Wayne Art Center, on Philly’s Main Line through May 13. And let me tell you, it is one of the crown jewels of not only Fiber Philadelphia 2012, but of the international fine art scene. Because after all, quilts of this caliber are just that: fine art.
And as with all great art, the story or narrative embedded in the work is a big part of what makes it so amazing. Almost every piece spoke to me, but there were three artists present who also spoke to me, graciously granting me permission to photograph them with their work and share it on my blog.
The most traditional of these art quilts was a most riotous, joyous riff on the American flag. In Colors Unfurled, aka If Betsy Ross Had My Stash, Maria Shell celebrates diversity. “Each stripe tells a story, and each star represents a state,” she explains.
Another quilter gave a nod to tradition: whole cloth quilts, simple black and white contrast, the expected squarish format. But oh, does she ever throw in a curve. In Same But Not, Paula Kovarik is inspired by “yin and yang, one line pathways, right brain, and left brain.” That one line pathway phrase is key: while Paula marked the semi-circles on white and black Kona cotton, the rest is pure, freehand doodling–with one continuous line of black thread on white, and one continuous line of white thread on black. The winding pathway, defined by the absence of quilting, certainly takes this viewer on a miraculous journey!
Many years ago, I was privileged to show Susan Else’s Captured on Film, a masterful composition full of set-in seams and minute pieced sashing in the Rodale’s Successful Quilting Library volume, Innovative Piecing. I only wish I had been able to show it full page. Susan looks back on that as the time when, ho hum, she was still making flat quilts. Baby, get a look at her work now:
This piece (which shared the top juror’s award with Red Stones #2, the sheer Dianne Firth piece you can glimpse in the background on the right) shows Susan’s continued mastery of technique–but taken now to exquisite heights, or rather, dimensions. Forever Yours illustrates such contradictory ideas as “love and death, tenderness and creepiness”…and also flat quilts vs. machine quilted fabric collage sewn over modified armature!
Huzzahs to Art Quilt Elements, for not imposing any sort of definition of what an art quilt is or requirements for the art quilt entries.
Kudos to the jurors, who whittled 800 or so entries down to 50 or so powerhouses of technique and composition, each with a compelling narrative.
And congrats to YOU, if you get the chance to see these extraordinary storytelling art quilts in the cloth. If not, consider ordering the catalog–a beautifully done chronicle of this, the 10th anniversary show, from www.wayneart.org. There, you’ll also get to see the work of the talented and accomplished committee members behind AQE, and also exemplary pieces of the fiber artists who have been jurors for this and the past AQE shows.
