We begin with the focused idea of an individual within a room. Take Red Room by Alice Beasley, a figural composition showing a nude woman from the back, and she seems to be tranquilly gazing out the window. We also have Linda Martin’s Ikigeni, the face of an African-American woman looking candidly at the viewer. We can imagine these two women isolated, within a domestic environment that might include Beans by Karol Kusmaul, Susan Else’s vessel Inheritance, and Barbara Schneider’s calligraphy brushes.
Looking out from our room, beyond these interior views, we can see uplifting architectural imagery by Natalya Khorover, Regina Benson, and Jayne Gaskins. Then as we think about the larger world, our thoughts might turn to national politics as presented in a deconstructed flag by Nancy Billings, or to aspects of time and travel, and the correspondences between the two as suggested by Judith Quinn Garnet’s abstract quilt.
Even though we may be isolated in a physical room, our imaginations are free to explore fantastical imagery, such as Barbara Schulman’s Mojo Mama, Susan Rienzo’s Heat Wave, the geometric play of Maria Shell’s Sum and Parts, and the whimsical asymmetry of Sandra Lauterbach’s Jasmine Red 3. We may be drawn into a meditative mood by Candice Phelan’s Purple YinYang, floating spheres by Maria Billings, Susan Lenz’s hypnotic In Box CCCXX, and Kate Stiassni’s luminous light study.
We might begin to muse and daydream about shapes, such as striking circular forms by Miki Rodriguez and Marlene Kohn, along with the stylized tulips of Cara Gulati. Thoughts of tulips take us into nature, with Jennifer Landau’s Waterfall, Vicki Conley’s Slot Canyon #4, and Karen Spencer’s Running through the Trees. As those leafy shapes gather in our mind’s eye, we welcome Kestrel Michaud’s Jack and Trilliam, Dorothy Raymond’s Petal Study, and Marianne Williamson’s Everglades, ending with Brenda Gael Smith’s Flying Colours, a glorious abstraction of parrots in flight.
Thus through the power of an art quilt exhibition, our room has many views if only we choose to see them.
-Dr. Sandra Sider
