Quilts Go Contemporary

Take a few yards of various fabrics, cut them into measured shapes, and sew them back together.

Quilting 101.  

While this is an over-simplification of a treasured and ancient art form, it is at the very least a starting point for even the most elaborate quilts.  I recently viewed a collection of contemporary quilts which blew the traditional idea of a colorful bedspread wide open and introduced another creative slant to this type of art.

So Quilters, before you slice me and my Quilting 101 definition into measured shapes, put down your rotary cutters and visit the Wayne Art Center's current exhibit titled, "ArtQuilt Elements 2012" which runs until May 13, 2012.

The exhibit is a juried collection 48 works selected from a pool of 660 entries that vary in every way except for the basic requirement that they contain a layer of batting sandwiched by a quilt top and backing. Once that sole parameter is met, the pieces explode with unique interpretations.

I was grateful to peruse the exhibit with my very accomplished friend and Malvern neighbor, Lisa O'Neill, who quilts with such creativity and ambition, she leaves me breathless. Her book Sliver Quilts: 11 Projects *Easy Technique for Dynamic Results introduces a clever quilting technique and is due out this May. (Pre-orders are available on Amazon.)

I was struck by the diverse artistry as we slowly gazed upon each piece – abstract designs, meditative faces, even a pair of colorful skeletons breathed vibrant life into quilting. These are not your grandma’s quilts. Quilting serves as a metaphor for making sense out of chaos - and, in some of the exhibit entries, sometimes communicating chaos from the sensible, as depicted by Kristin LaFlamme in her work War Sucks. 

Taking the traditional and turning it on its ear really opened up possibilities not only in design, but in some of the smallest details, such as the intricate stitching in Thousands of Words by Mary Ruth Smith.

The contemporary exhibit forced me to thoughtfully consider the message in each entry - whether or not the quilter succeeded in communicating a specific idea. I found several of the written inspirations offered by some quilt makers overpowered the works in a rambling way. I truly believe the work itself should tell the story and a brief explanatory note should suffice. The works with concise notations were consistently the ones that touched me the most - they opened up space for appreciation, instead of telling me what to feel. As each entry prodded me to understand its maker's intention, I delighted in many of them. Check out the photos of a few of my personal favorites. Enjoy!