Postcards are going out for our Distinctive Directions show that opens at the Lux Center for the Arts on April 4. The cards look sharp — lucky we have Deidre Adams in our group to design them!

The DD show and Lisa Call’s solo show at the Lux open one week after the grand opening of the International Quilt Study Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, so if you wait until April, you can see Nancy Crow’s show and Quilts in Common at the IQSC and our shows at the Lux. A double dip trip!

Façade III: Red Oxide, detail

The first time I had ever heard of the idea of working in a series was a long time ago – maybe 1999? – when I attended Nancy Crow’s Sets & Variables and Improvisations classes back-to-back at the High Peaks camp in Estes Park, Colorado. This was full-immersion exposure to the processes and methods of a serious art quilter. Along with giving us tons of exercises to do, which some people worked very hard at and others blew off, depending on their individual personalities, Nancy stressed that it was important to fully explore and develop an idea. The only way to really do that was by making several works in which you would repeat some elements but vary others. I was fairly new to art quilting then and hadn’t made a lot of work, much less given thought to the idea of a series. But Nancy’s teaching methods pretty much changed my life.

I went home and started trying out some of the things I had learned, which included how to work with curves and odd-shaped pieces. I did make a couple of things that belonged together as a series, but I didn’t really find anything I wanted to explore more than 2 or 3 times until I started working with paint on the stitched canvas. I was very excited about the textures I could get with this method, and I think that is the key to working in a series. You have to be enthusiastic about what you are doing, or it’s not going to go anywhere.

I have a couple of different named series – I categorize them by the subject matter or type of colors – but all my current fiber work belongs in a single series by virtue of the fact that the working processes are the same.

Catacombs XX installed in a private residence in Santa Monica, CA

As Lisa astutely pointed out, many of my works have refrigerators in them, and of course, even more revolve around food.

In my artist’s statement, I’ve given a rather long-winded explanation about how my current series and the character PaMdora evolved. But a more casual explanation is that everyday concerns just have a way of creeping into my work.

For me, creating a series was never my intention. It was more that I was looking for a personal visual language to express my insecurity and anxiety about contemporary life, as seen through my oddly humor-tinted glasses.

Reading Jeanne’s previous post, and having just read through much of her recent book, I’m struck by the irony that although our work looks very different, some of our methodology is the same. We both seem to create certain rules for ourselves — rules that gives us some kind of organizing structure, but also allows for wide areas of experimentation and evolution.

This world of PaMdora that I’ve created is the example of that — it has it’s own set of rules related to color, pattern, style, and topic. But I have in mind many ways that I can play and grow within this framework.

Everyday, I hear the persistent tapping somewhere in my mind of new ideas that want expressing. I’m not sure if it’s something trying to get in or something trying to get out. I guess it’s really both.

When I created Orange Construction Fence Series #1, I had no idea that I would be beginning a series of work that would consist of 58 pieces and counting. Orange Construction Fence Series #1 was a monoprint of one construction fence that had some hand stamping, and some small pieces of monoprinted fabric of another patterned fence appliqued to it.

As the series progressed, I started monoprinting the textures of two or more fences to the fabric, and sometimes pieces of cardboard that had shapes cut out of it. I also included layers of fabric paint and hand stamped images, removing the need for applique.

At this time, I am only working with one fence pattern on each piece of fabric, with no applique, and relating it to the geometric patterns of local building construction projects. My use of fabric paint includes painting and hand stamping on both sides of the main piece of fabric, and choosing one of the sides as the top of each finished piece.

I have seen a lot of growth in my work, as I have used the construction fence as the basis of my design process. As long as I have ideas for additional new pieces, I plan on continuing my series. When I run out of ideas, I’ll go on to something else. At this time, I’m not short of ideas, only time.

Lisa, as curator, asked me to write about why I work in a series and here is my answer:

My Catacombs series is not yet finished. So far, I’ve made 20 pieces and I still have sketches for more. Every time I think I’m done, I see something, a building perhaps, and that leads me to other permutations of arranged arches.

Many archeological sites have been obliterated as a result of war or the flooding of sensitive areas caused by the building of hydroelectric dams in the constant search to fill the world’s need for energy. Civilizations of the past intertwined their culture and religion, the unexplainable was made to be supernatural.

The arch is a symbol from antiquity that I use in my work to depict this integration of historical icon in modern contexts. The result is art that is archeological in nature, mysterious in design and reverent in interpretation with the illusion of a patina of age.

When I read about the destruction of yet another archeological site, such as the sensitive digs and ruins at Babylon, I feel compelled to make another piece in the series. Considering the state of the world, this series may never be completed.

When I was asked to curate a textile art exhibit at the Lux Center for the Arts in conjunction with my solo show I knew I wanted to include artists who work in a series, with each artist having a distinct voice. The resulting show will demonstrate both the depth and breadth of the possibilities an artist can explore in textiles.

Although both Deidre and Jeanne paint their textile work their methods and results are very distinct. Jeanne creates her painted construction fence monoprints prior to stitching. Deidre adds layers of color and markings to build her rich abstracted compositions after heavily stitching the fabric.

Pam and Joanie both employ a collage style in their work with unique outcomes. Pam’s pictorial work focuses on her well loved cartoon character, Pamdora, constructed with a wide range of commercial prints. I’ve selected Joanie’s architectural catacombs series for this show with her profusion of overlapped arches cut from her hand dyed and painted fabrics.

I will be exhibiting new work from my Structures series in the show Fencing In or Keeping Out along side the Distinct Directions show. This abstract series investigates fences and walls, both physical and emotional. The work is created using traditional fabric seams between the lines and shapes of color. Texture is added with dense stitching echoing the composition.

I’ve asked each of the artists to talk a bit about why they work in a series. Look for those blog posts coming up over the next few weeks.

Distinctive Directions
Deidre Adams, Pam RuBert, Joanie San Chirico, Jeanne Williamson

Lux Center for the Arts
Lincoln, Nebraska
April 4 — 26, 2008

Curated by textile artist, Lisa Call, the Lux Center’s 2008 Quilting Invitational brings together diverse and talented regional and east coat artists. Deidre Adams uses the structure of the quilt to investigate surface and textures through stitched and painted natural landscapes and man made structures. Works by Joanie San Chirico share a similar focus on the environment and artifacts, while employing the use of hand dying processes and stitching on both cloth and paper. A fascination with form and color through the use of painting, printmaking, collage and sewing are displayed in Jeanne Williamson’s construction fence monoprints. Rounding out the bunch are Pam RuBert’s quilts which in their altogether unique way use RuBert’s own cartoon character, PaMdora, to create humorous narrative adventures.

Structures #48    ©2007    48" x 64"

Fencing In or Keeping Out
Contemporary Textile Art by Lisa Call

Lux Center for the Arts
Lincoln, Nebraska
April 4 — 26, 2008

In conjunction with the 2008 Quilt Invitational, Denver, Colorado textile artist and curator, Lisa Call, will display her own hand dyed and stitched textile art. Call employs the use of abstraction, geometry, and the color pallet of the Southwest within her work. Interest in both geological formations and man-made structures such as fences and walls manifest themselves within her Structures series. Visible delineations suggesting containment and boundaries also allude to the psychological boundaries we set.