Pacific Northwest African American Quilters
A collection of quilts and fiber art inspiring viewers with the guild’s signature artistic creativity and sustainable earth, global footprint message. “Mixed Greens” is a celebratory project exhibition, offering a diverse perspective of regional and local Northwest efforts to re-use, re-purpose, and recycle, while continuing to honor “America’s favorite pastime.”
The collection, composed of some twenty-two individual offerings is organized to satisfy the senses while respecting the environment. Each piece, though uniquely special, compliments the collection like a freshly tossed fine summer salad, or a combination of mixed kale and mustard greens. The title piece selected for the exhibition: “Carbon Footprint” (seen at left) by quilter Marilyn Wilson Hanseling sets the pace. It conveys a sense of “earthiness” and respect for “Mother Earth.” “Paper or Plastic” by creative quilter Annie Harper is a mixed media piece that utilizes plastic bags and wrappers, fabric trimmings, threads, ribbon cuttings brought together to demonstrate a personal interpretation of “proper recycling technique.”
Viewers will come away from “Mixed Greens” inspired, and full of new possibilities to explore. Simple and functional “idea gifts from the earth”, like preparing beets, other varieties of vegetable dyes and teas to color or hue fabric as offered by the inspirations of traditional hand quilter Johnnie Miller, who learned from her family farming traditions as a young girl, rotating crops and the conscious behavior to recycle their bounty to the fullness thereof.
Mixed Greens: Saving the Earth One Quilt at a Time brings back to conscious the social responsibility we share to protect and preserve “Mother Earth” for generations to come. This exhibition presents the evolution of the art form from traditional/utilitarian quilts to contemporary abstract fiber art.
Exhibition curated by Deborah Boone – quilter/fiber artist and member of the Pacific Northwest African American Quilters, “Mixed Greens: Saving the Earth One Quilt at a Time”, June 29th – Oct 2nd 2011.
-Deborah Boone
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Website of the Pacific Northwest African American Quilters Association.http://www.pnwaaq.com/
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Carbon Footprint by Marilyn Hanseling. Materials: Cottons, flannels, dryer lint, and dryer sheets.
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