On Saturday we got out and about in beautiful weather and headed over to Museo Blanes to see a small but interesting exhibition by Uruguayan fibre artist Sylvia Umpierrez. In translation, her general artist statement says of her inspiration from Nature: “Through my work I want to awaken new sensations about the beauty of nature, take another look at what is dry, what has no value for many, for me, it is the beginning of my fabrics”.
The curator’s exhibition statement reminds us how utilitarian and symbolic roles of woven cloth and basketry reach back far into the mists of human history. Though undoubtedly descended from such practical intent as her Catalan ancestors’ hand crafted fishing baskets, the works in this exhibition are highly representative of Umpierrez’s interest in the used, dried vegetable materials that Nature has cast before her to select as raw materials for new woven forms. Additionally, we learned that the particular vines and other plant forms the artist used here have healing and medicinal properties, giving additional symbolic connection to the woven fabrics with which we are surrounded from our moment of birth.
The keynote piece of the show, this two piece composition suggested to me that the creature had left, leaving behind something of an afterbirth, which of course isn’t what actually happens when a metamorphosed chrysalid emerges from its cocoon.
Even without knowing the particular properties of these plants, it is clear from the empty containers or cocoons ‘vacated’ by metamorphosed creatures that they had already emerged from the dry dead materials to continue living in their newly hatched forms as moths or butterflies.
This was my favourite, so light and lyrical and of course the shadows it threw onto the wall are lovely.
All the pieces were suspended using barely noticeable nylon thread which gave wonderful sense of ethereal mystery to the collection including the several large dried philodendron leaves that hovered among the forms.
Some papier mache, perhaps applied to give the impression of mud and pointing to intimate contact with the earth.
This exhibition is open until May 28th, and I urge anyone within reach of this wonderful Montevideo museum to get along and see it. Museo Blanes is open Tuesday-Sunday, 12noon to 6pm, and entry is free. And it’s always worth strolling through the Figari collection there, followed by some time standing in awe in front of the vast Blanes painting of The Oath Of The Thirty-Three Orientals, too.
I’ve at last pinned the back and front together so that stitching on the front will form the quilting, probably in some lattice kind of mesh pattern before I add the ‘woolly elements’ on the front and probably something on the back, too.
I somehow came up with the idea of motheaten edges – and indeed as I pulled both coats apart there were a couple of motheaten patches on each coat, but they didn’t fit with the way I cut the fabric…however they would be easy to replicate by t scraping the brushed patches and edges with the scalpel blade I have. And, in perfect timing, last week I watched a talk by Sharon Peoples in the Textile Talks program series, and lo and behold she did a really nice demo on how she makes 3D butterflies and moths – I’m now thinking of adding a few….
The project I referred to in my previous post continues. I had already decided to make this a 100% recycling of materials project because the gifted materials make it possible – but it is challenging.
Many who use recycled garments in their art include details like belt loops, button holes, pockets and collars, showing the work’s made from a recycled garment, with clues to its former life. Because I don’t want my wool art quilt to say ‘garment;’ or ‘coat’ to the viewer, I laboriously deconstructed the two coats. I’ve been making samples on the small bits, but for the moment I’m not cutting up the larger areas until I’m more sure of the composition.
The entry rules require the wool composition on both the back and the front to be at least 60%. The red fabric is 50% wool, and the black 70%, so I’m considering some kind of red/black checkerboard grid, but I might put that on the back, because I also have a 65% wool cape which I might use for the front if I further develop a radial design that I’m considering, too.
Whatever I do, though, there will be added woolly elements, so time to show some of the things I’ve been playing with:
Some of the stitched element possibilities I’m considering
Wool wound around my fingers and stitched down.
Overcoming my hesitation, today I cut into one of the knitted samples for a section of rib knit, which frayed wonderfully.
The call for entries to the biennial juried art quilt exhibition Art Quilt Australia 23, is now open, and this year, the organisers, Ozquilt Network and the exhibition’s sponsors The National Wool Museum, have made a major change in entry conditions. It’s always been possible to enter two quilts of whatever materials you like, but this year if you want to enter a second one, it must be of wool, with at least 60% of both front and back surfaces being that fibre.
Given the main sponsor of the exhibition, I think it’s a good change, because the exhibition opens every second time at the National Wool Museum in Geelong, Victoria; the winner of the Wool Award award is acquisitive; and the prize money is considerable. Past AQAs I’ve seen in person have included relatively few wool quilts compared to other art quilts in which the most common fibre used is cotton. So I’m sure this move will encourage more of us to make art quilts in wool to enter this year.
Anyway, it worked with me !!
But I had to really think about why I rarely work with wool of any kind. What do/did I have against wool? It’s a wonderful natural fibre, and I was brought up wearing wool for warmth in Tasmania. We valued our woollen garments and blankets, and learned how to care for them properly. I did a lot of dressmaking in my younger days, and know well that wool doesn’t press down as flat as well as cotton, so I think that’s why I’ve never really considered using it for art quilts.
I guess the answer lies in the path I travelled to become a maker of quilted textile art – art quilts. Before living in the USA 1987-94, I had been an embroiderer, and had just been invited to have my first solo exhibition of creative, interpretive embroidery. It was very landscape inspired, mostly combining paint with stitched textures. The long story continued with learning American patchwork, joining a quilters guild, going to some construction classes and joining a quilting bee for the cultural experience, while at the same time actively participating in The Embroiderers Guild of America. One time I spray painted some fabric intending to embroider on it, but the result of the painting was disappointing, and I’d have ditched it if a fellow artist hadn’t suggested I include it in an art quilt. It sounded a good idea, so I made one and called it Ancient Expressions, It was juried into and sold from the first art quilt exhibition I ever entered. With that encouragement plus all I learned about patchwork from my traditional P.W. friends, I’ve continued to make art quilts, favouring cotton as my go-to-fabric for art quilt making. My techniques have changed a lot, though, and with hand stitch and raw edge applique predominant at the moment, I am now interested in making at least one art quilt using wool.
I decided to make this a recycling exercise, which is not an entry requirement. Here in Uruguay people do still wear a lot of wool, and they also pass on clothing they’ve finished using. I felt it wouldn’t take long to come up with some interesting fabric pieces I could save from the landfill, and so put the call out to my friends.
Pieces of the black wool coat pulled apart, ready to wash. Many pieces have things like buttonholes, darts and belt loops, but a lot of larger areas will be useful.
Within 48 hours, Virginia had turned up with two donated wool coats, one black and the other red. I’ve unpicked the black one, washed all the pieces in the machine and dryer to give a wonderful result. I wasn’t sure about the red one, but now that I’ve thought of several possible ways to use it, I will unpick that, too. It’s only 50% wool, though, so I’ll have to augment that with whatever I put on it.
Shortly after that, Maureen arrived with an armful of 100% merino machine knitted wool samples from a garment manufacturer relative. I may not use any of the dark browns** but the several shades of grey and cream will be good, and I’m thinking about how to use them. I could cut them into sections, but I could also unwind them and knit or crochet elements to place on the front. The thicker ones easily separate out into 4×2 ply, easy to use for stitching – so whatever I do will have hand stitch on it! There’s still time for some other wool fabrics to turn up between now and mid-late April, when I’ll probably be ready to start making it.
Some of the machine knitted pure wool samples I was given.
This lacy stuff joining different sections is mostly cotton/cheaper threads, but I was able to wind into balls the single wool thread in much of it – divine to stitch with.
Perhaps I could attach some crocheted wool elements…
I could also knit some elements to attach….
**What I don’t use of these samples I’ll pass on to a friend who organises knitters to produce 10″ wool squares from leftover and donated wool, and then arranges for them to sewn up to make blankets for needy people. Hundreds if not thousands are produced each year, so the wool won’t go to waste!
This idea comes up from time to time, and I have no idea how frequently it actually happens. I only make half a dozen major works in a good year, often less, and I still have about 1/3 to 1/2 of all the wall quilts I’ve made down the years. Many art quilters and other fibre artists are in the same position, and I’m sure painters, weavers, embroiderers and other creatives also face this question.
Some artists cut up out of date quilted works for bed liners for pet shelters, and others cut out interesting bits, add stitching, painting, embellishing and other alterations, thus repurposing them into smaller mixed media works. A recent mention of this issue somewhere made me look at some of my own works. I did cut one into pieces and send it to the landfill many years ago, a bit naughty of me considering the state of the world’s landfills today; but now I’d make an effort to recycle at least part of something.
This example came to mind. If I were to rework this quilt as Hazel Bruce sometimes does, I think I’d pull out the current quilting along the strips and their extensions, and stitch/quilt using something like – straight stitch, cretan stitch, or fly stitch over those areas defined by the seams. I might even do some of the wonderful blocks of machined zig-zag stitching filling she’s fond of – which could be great in shiny neon florescent threads or metallics.
Detail, Circulation, 2010. Squares 4″ Machine quilted in the ditch, hand quilting.
It could be shortened down to a square, 7×7 squares, or even 7×10 squares.
And, I’d probably also reduce the length. It’s currently 71cm x 175cm, or 28in x 69in. That’s a slightly odd size, but I counted, and according to this photo, it’s 7 x 16 four inch squares.
Right now I’m just a bit busy on two projects for entries into the ArtQuiltAustralia 23, closing date June 2nd, but perhaps after those are squared away I can see what’s to be done to give this one a new life.
