Although I said I hadn’t done any work in the
holidays, it wasn’t quite true. A few
weekends ago I went to the Festival of Quilts.
After all the discussion on this blog about last year’s Best in Show,
this year there was a new competition/invitational category called Fine Art
Quilt Masters. I was very keen to see
it, partly to see what would be included and also excited because it should
have been full of ‘my kind of artwork’ as my Dad puts it. I wasn’t disappointed. Yes, there was still quite a variance in
standard and I may have chosen a few different ones (but of course, it depends
on who puts their work forward). The
lighting was truly atrocious (hence limited photos), but the organisers were
well aware of this and promised they would sort it for next year.
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| Dorothy Caldwell, detail of How do we know when it's night |
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| Dorothy Caldwell, detail of How do we know when it's night |
So what about the quilts? The winner was Dorothy Caldwell with ‘How Do
We Know When It’s Night’. Her piece
(actually comprising of two hangings) was monumental, measuring approx 3m in
each direction. From a distance, personally,
it was almost too much, especially given the walls weren’t really high enough
and the lighting. However, when I got
close up and started photographing the details, I felt it revealed its beauty. Personally, I would love any of the details
as a complete piece.
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| Sandra Meech, The Last Silence |
At the other end of the scale was ‘The Last Silence’
by Sandra Meech, measuring 35cm square.
It was a very different piece from the work I normally associate with
Sandra, although still on the same theme.
I loved the way it was contained within the frame, setting boundaries
for the work, which had to be concertina-ed to fit inside. Again like Dorothy’s hanging, the mark-making
was amazing.
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| Sandra Meech, detail of The Last Silence |
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| Elizabeth Brimelow, detail of Round Meadow |
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| Elizabeth Brimelow, detail of Round Meadow |
I am obviously drawn to works which are less
quilt-like as two more I liked were Elizabeth Brimelow’s ‘Round Meadow’, which
snaked across a plinth in a spiral form, full of little notes and annotations
and hints at larger pieces.
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| Christine Chester, Portraits of a Memory |
Secondly, ‘Portraits
of a Memory’ by Christine Chester comprised nine panels of industrial felt
pinned to the wall, with paper and voile on top carrying slightly scorched
images. The starkness of the piece was
very appealing with its monochromatic colour range and it has a sobering subject matter of memory loss due to dementia. On a frivolous note,I have to admit part of the draw for me is that industrial felt is
one of my favourite fabrics to look at, even if it is something I haven’t used
in my own work yet.
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| Christine Chester, detail of Portraits of a Memory |
This is just a small selection of what was on
show. I found these pieces rather
thought-provoking and very inspirational.
I hope the organisers get good feedback on this category and that they
continue with it. Also I hope as it
gains momentum, more textile artists at the top of the game apply to have their
work included to keep adding to this valued dimension to the Festival of
Quilts.
Did you go to the Festival of Quilts? If so, what did you think of this category?
4 comments:
Like you I was keen to see the Masters category and was not disappointed, except for the lighting. You have also mentioned three of my favourite pieces although Elizabeth Brimelow's was not one of them.
What other pieces did you like?
If you are up on a hill on a clear night looking at the stars and feeling as though you are going to fall over with the dizziness of it all - I started from the far side of the 'room' with Dorothy Caldwell's entry and as I crossed the room there was a point where I felt as though I was going to fall into the work. A disconcerting but familiar feeling and for me, it was the whole thing rather than the details
What a great way of explaining the overall effect Carrie. It makes me want to see it again! I think for me it was spoilt by the hanging and lighting.
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