UNATTAINABLE  
42”H X 38”W  

This storytelling quilt was inspired by family scrapbooks. I have images of me dressed up in a new spring coat almost exactly like this girl. And older scrapbooks depict my mother in an identical pose. I was interested in the continuity of the experiences of young girls.

There are several stories here. The young girl – depicted in a flat, paper-doll rendering, is contrasted to the elegant ideal woman. That body and all it represents are unattainable for the little girl. (and for almost all women.)

For the elegant woman, there is also longing. Around her float the silver spoons that represent her understanding of what gives life meaning. (Although the silver is somewhat tarnished, and inhabited by a few flying moths.)  The spoons are photo transfers from images of my Grandmother’s repousse silver flatware.

Together, the woman and the girl live in a house and the house is behind a picket fence. This fence is “real,” being a photographic image, providing some ironic contrast to the whole story: an imagined ideal home of a little house with a white picket fence.

Hand printed (monotypes, relief prints, resists and stencils) with acrylic paint on cotton muslin and sheer fabrics, collaged and stitch construction, with machine stitched details. Transfer of photographs to muslin. Finishing: bound fabric-backed. The back has a hanging pocket and a rod, for traditional hanging tapestry presentation without frame. All collaging is with archival matte acrylic medium, which also protects the surface

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