Tag Archives | Exhibits

In conjunction with the “Forced to Flee” exhibit, there’s also a presentation of artwork by Tanja Boudal and it’s VERY interesting.

The majority of the pieces on display are like those shown here. As I understand it, she finds media pictures showing women in the midst of struggles and prints them on to fabric. She then alters one of the women using white fabric and black stitching. It’s a very striking effect.

One wall featured these pieces mounted perpendicular to the wall. This gives an interesting perspective and also makes a visually intriguing presentation.

This is the back side of the piece shown above.

Most fascinating, however, are the pieces made with a technique Boukal calls shadow knitting.

This one is of an Indian activist named Phoolan Devi. VERY subtle, right?

Now, check out this detail shot of the eyes. Invisible, I’d say.

But, look what happens when you view the piece from the side.

And here’s another, featuring Sarah-Ginaite.

I have no idea how she does this! I need to go back and see these pieces again.

You can see them, too, through August 24th in Melbourne, FL. They’re at the Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts, which is always free. Enjoy!

Ellen Lindner

SAQA’s “Forced to Flee” exhibit is very powerful. It recently opened in Melbourne, FL at the Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts. As you might imagine, many of the pieces had to do with the refugee crisis, but others showcased the horrors of war, and the power of nature. There are 30+ pieces in the exhibit, so this is just a little taste.

This piece, by Eunhee Lee is called “They are Also Us.” It was chosen for the featured wall image, and rightly so. It’s a very moving piece.

I remember seeing this quilt online and being very struck by it. But, what I didn’t notice until I saw it up close was the imagery of people fleeing in the background.

Mary Palmer’s piece, “Prayer,” was about 8 feet tall. The shapes are the characters of a Muslim prayer.

It’s made from life jacket fabric cut into squares and stitched in a very open pattern.

Karen Tauber’s piece also featured heavy use of life jacket fabric and imagery. It’s called “Life Jacket Graveyard of Lesvos,” and it depicts the “Mountain of Misery” created as thousands of refugees discarded their jackets and rafts on this small Greek island.

As you can tell by the shadows on the wall, the bottom portion is extremely three dimensional.

“Missing Migrants” is the name of Genevieve Attinger’s piece, shown below.

As you can see in the detail shot below, she’s used tiny little “mummy” dolls to represent the people. Barbed wire depicts their final obstacle.

Claire Passmore also shows the refugee’s journey, reading from bottom to top. Her title asks the question, “Lucky Ones?”

She depicted those who died with sheer bodies, as seen below. Very moving.

And here’s one of the few pieces that didn’t focus on refugees. It’s called “Firestorm,” by Grace H. Wever. It depicts the firestorms which raged in bombed cities during World War I.

She depicted the fire very effectively with a variety of materials and techniques. It almost looked like it would burn you if you touched it.

All the artists in this exhibit approached their subjects in very thoughtful ways. The layers of meaning and subtle details gave strength to their stories.

Although not a happy upbeat exhibit, it is WELL worth visiting. It’s on display until August 24th, so you’ve got plenty of time to see it. (And it’s free!)

Ellen Lindner

Lately, we’ve been seeing lots of quilts that are photos printed onto fabric and then stitched. Although often stunning from across the room, I’m not always enamored with these quilts.  That’s because I want to see something more than the photo. I want to see some added texture, drawing with the quilting line, or thread painting that really ADDS something to the image. I want to see “the hand of the artist.” That is, some way in which the artist has expanded or reinterpreted the photo. Otherwise, why not just print it on paper and frame it? This is a quilt. I want to see something that elevates the image.

Not surprisingly, there were several of these photo quilts at the AQS show in Daytona this year. I’m showing you several I think were especially well done.

This magnificent quilt by Sue de Vanny, is a prime example.

Click any image for a larger view

I don’t believe this one was printed on the fabric. Instead, she used a variety of fabrics to create the basic design, and she then used additional stitching to really bring it to life. My photo is a little out of focus, but I think you can make out the abundant zigzag stitching she has done to soften the edges of the fabrics and to add detail. Beautiful!

Constanze Botel started with a wonderful high contrast photo printed onto fabric.

She added lots of personality and details with the quilting. The word “photographer” is stitched into the background. You can just make out the g to the left of his ear.

This bird quilt was made by  Nancy Sterett Martin. The feathers begged for stitching to help make them stand out.

Nancy took it one step further, however, by adding lots of textured fabric, as well. I think it’s very successful.

I think I read that this next quilt did not have a printed photo as a starting point. Instead, each subtle bit of shading and detail was achieved with fabric and thread. It was made by Barbara Binotto.

Now, check out some of her fabulous textured details: 3D Branches!

And water with textured bits used to great effect.

I hope we’ll see more quilts like these in future shows. To me, they’re MUCH more interesting than just thread painting.

Ellen Lindner
P.S. I fully understand that heavy thread painting is an art and I greatly respect the workmanship.

There were many amazing quilts at the World Quilt Show Florida, recently held in Tampa. This show actually features two competitions. The first is the Best of World entries, which travel to all the Mancuso managed shows. Plus, there’s a competition for Florida residents only. Here are some of my favorites from the world quilt show entries.

Although I didn’t get a good shot of it, Christine Roseberry’s quilt was well deserving of Best of Show.

Amazing, right?

The second place quilt was made by Margaret Speed.

 It was made entirely with silk and it had a wonderful luster.

I loved this piece by Kathryn Hamer Fox, from South Africa.

She adds detail with lots of messy stitching, which I think it’s very effective!

I didn’t recognize the imagery in this next quilt right away.

Then I read the title: “Percussionist.” Ah, I saw it.

This quilt was made by Grace Meijer, from the UK. Check out the detail shot.

And here are some quilts from the Florida competition. My friend, Laura Ruiz, won second place with her quilt called “My Colorado Garden.” The entire quilt background is made from log cabin blocks, including the green lower portion.

The flowers are painted on stretched silk, cut out, and appliqued on. And Laura’s quilting is beautiful.

Another friend, Kestrel Michaud, won Judges Choice AND Viewers’ Choice with her steam punk quilt, “Rose.”

I think this quilt has over 1000 pieces in it. Kestrel designs her quilts on her ipad and then creates a cutting diagram which she sends to her Cricket cutter. It spits out the desired tiny shapes and she assembles everything together like a giant jigsaw puzzle.

And, I had a quilt in the show, too: “Jubilation.”

Not sure why it was hanging wonky. Any ideas?

Here, in Florida, quilt show season is in full swing. I hope you get to see some great shows in your area.

Ellen Lindner