Saturday, September 14, 2013

What IS My Line?

On the very last day of the exhibition, I drove down to Lowell Mass. to see the "What's My Line?" art quilt show at the Whistler House Museum of Art.

***Note: I took these photos with my camera's highest resolution, so you can click them, and then click them again to supersize so you can examine them closely.
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One look around and I could see that my quilts did not match the Juror's vision.



I was allowed to take all the photographs I wanted.



The concept of a "line" seemed very literal in most of the quilts.


Most, but not all. While the prospectus said a "line" could be a line of music or a phrase, there were no quilts here with words in them.



Viewers were encouraged to vote for their favorite.


My "favorite" changed several times before I made my final selection.  Can you guess which one it is?

"Fractures 3" by Sandra Palmer Ciolino


 "Green and Orange" by Phyllis Small

"Plowlines I" by Stephanie Shore

 
"Linear One" by Rosemary Hoffenberg.

"Trippy" by Ann Brauer




"Sbagello VI Vortex" by Sandra Palmer Ciolino.

"Woods Walk" by Valerie Maser-Flanagan
 
"Spring Sneezes" by Marti Plager

 "Boulevard" by Maria Shell

"Time Line I" by Leesa Gawlik of Durango Colorado, was the one I finally decided was my favorite.



What's my takeaway from all of this?  These quilts seemed to me to be more "Art" than "Quilt." While the pieces were all supposed to be made in the traditional quilt "sandwich" of top-batting-backing, few of them really seemed to be quilts in the tactile sense.  My quilts are more "Quilt" than "Art."

*Update. I don't think of my quilts as less "Art Quilts" because they are more traditionally constructed. It was just such an obvious difference from the ones that were hanging at the Whistler that I had to mention it.  I thought the show was really good, and I enjoyed it a lot. I would have loved to be a part of it, but hey, bright lights big city. That's the way the cookie crumbles. Everybody has their own viewpoint. I'm glad the quilting community is as large, varied and diverse as it is, because there are a LOT of stunning quilts out there!

5 comments:

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

That was a great show. Thanks for posting photos.

Anonymous said...

Your quilts may be more "quilt" than the ones in the exhibit, but I would dispute the idea that they are more quilt than art, or that they must be one or the other.
You masterfully use fabric to tell stories, and elicit emotions from your viewers. You make us think, and smile.
I'm not an artist myself, but I'm pretty sure that's the definition of art.

Poppy Q said...

Interesting, but not my cup of tea in either the art or the quilt sense. I can see that they are all very artistic - I think I like the plowlines one the best. I would prefer to see a show of quilts like yours Lynne.

Julie and Poppy Q
xxx

Quiltdivajulie said...

Yes, thanks for sharing the photos. Interesting takeaway - pondering my thoughts on that one.

Jean said...

I agree with Selvage fairy on the definition of quilt vs art. I think all quilts are works of art, though I can see that "art quilts" might not be quilts that we cuddle up with. I think the definitions are getting really blurred, what with the art quilt and modern quilt movements. I love them all and I don't know what you voted for, but of the ones you showed, I would vote for "Sbagello VI Vortex". Love the lines in that one. I will have to go back through to see which of yours you entered.