This weekend I became interested – again – in a work I created in 2018.
And All that’s Gone Before exhibited as part of my recent solo show at the Museum of Art DeLand. The work is back in my studio now. I unwrapped it and put it on the shelf this weekend and had a chance to interact with it again.
I was glad I chose it as part of the show. Even though I had not looked at it closely for several years, as I revisited it in the exhibit, I again became involved in what inspired me to create it initially.
Above and Below: Compositions with something above the horizon line and something below the horizon line continue to intrigue me. I have played with the concept a lot in works I have created since this one.
This picture plane, I believe, is doing several different things at once. Divided into above and below – sky above, underground below, the house straddling that dividing line, but being, at the same time, flat. This is not photo-realism. There is no place in the actual world where one could stand to look and see an actual house, the sky, and the subterranean world configured like this. So, the work creates its own reality.
Yet – it’s not hard to figure out. I was interested in how many viewers were drawn to this work, and I heard them describing it just right: “Look at that. All those patterns are the things happening in past time. And those roots are reaching down into all of those experiences. And drawing them up into the house.”
Just as I had intended.
Working Method:
Pretty early in my quiltmaking journey, I found a way to work that pleases me. Starting with blank fabric, I use acrylic paints to create the pieces that will go into the quilt.
I machine stitch the fabrics I’ve created onto a background, then stitch through the painted fabric to quilt it.
I work in sections, to fit my machine:
Pattern as Storytelling: In this work, and as a general way of developing all my works, I want the selection of details to help tell the story. The pattern and fabric choices are not arbitrary.
The house is the most solid element in the work. The roof looks strong. The inside of the house is “real” – constructed of a photograph of actual twigs. Below the house the roots are printed on sheer fabric, becoming ethereal as they descend down into the underground area.
And, in the underground -– that area where all has gone before—there is a mix of many patterns and colors, representing the rich complexity of our histories.
I was happy to rediscover that the things that interested me when I created this work are still interesting to me. My “what’s gone before” is a part of my “where I am now.”
If you’d like to learn more about this work is on my website HERE.
. . . . .
For all of us: focus each day
on the good that needs to be done in the world.
Be part of doing it.
Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
How I keep in touch:
BLOG POSTS - once a week: Mostly about what I am creating in the studio. If you would enjoy receiving blog posts by e-mail, please subscribe here: I post and send by e-mail each Sunday evening. BLOGS-BY-EMAIL
NEWSLETTER – about once a month: Mostly news of exhibits and my way of introducing new work. You’ll get FIRST LOOKS at new artwork and members-only discounts. You’ll hear from me about once a month. NEWSLETTER