Thoughts on Quilt National 2011 Book

Quilt National 2011; Lark Books; www.LarkCrafts.com;  ISBN 978-1-60059-799-2

I just read my Quilt National 2011: The Best of Contemporary Quilts book, showcasing each of the quilts in the current QN exhibit.  I was so excited to see it, not only because I wasn't able to attend the opening, but also because a number of Fiber Revolution members were juried in.  I'm so excited for my fellow Revolutionaries!

The book has two implied sections: the written portion which includes an introduction and the jurors' statements, followed by the section with images of each of the quilts, accompanied by the artist statements.  I read the first part with interest, especially the jurors' statements.  I was particularly taken by Pauline Verbeek-Cowart's statement for its brutal honesty. She admitted to having a predisposition about what she was expecting to see among the entries.  She's not a quilter, but a weaver, and came to the jurying process with a bias based on her experience in her field.  She wrote, "New tools allow us to do things that were not possible before...It is not so much the idea that new tools are better, because often they are not, but they entice us to ask questions and stimulate us to think of new ways to create and express our interests.  I viewed the more than 1,000 entries with this mindset the first time around and I was initially disappointed.  Not a single entry in my opinion represented that leap into new territory, or challenged conventional notions of the medium and stood as a radical new approach."


That gave me pause.  So I went back to the QN website to see what their expectations are for entries and it states the following:


"The work must possess the basic structural characteristics of a quilt. It must be predominantly fabric or fabric-like material and must be composed of at least two full and distinct layers (a face layer and a backing layer). The face layer may be described by any or a combination of the following terms: pieced, appliquéd, whole cloth, stitch/fused to a foundation. The face and backing layers must be held together by hand- or machine-made functional quilting stitches or other elements that pierce all layers and are distributed throughout the surface of the work. At least some of these stitches or elements should be visible on the back of the work. As an alternative, the work may be a modular construction (an assemblage of smaller quilts). Each individual module, however, must meet the above structural criteria."

Well, in my opinion, that description means that pieces appropriate for QN are going to continue to be fiber-based and, somehow, tangibly derivative (whether through appearance or structure) from the traditions of quilting.  I'm not sure that, while this definition stands, there will be any large number of submissions that will push the envelope in terms of materials (such as recycled bottle caps as the base for the work) or technique (such as adding LED lights).  But Pauline's opinion, as an "outsider", is very thought-provoking.  I don't know how I'll respond to it -- I'll probably continue working as I do since that's how my voice speaks -- but I think I will question what I do more.


Based on what I've seen in the book, I think the three jurors did a magnificent job of choosing the pieces for this year's exhibition.  Of course, nothing can compare to seeing the pieces in person, but I think that, through the book, we can get a good sense of the mastery on display.  I loved reading each of the artist's statements.  I looked through the book three times before I felt I could stop.  First I just looked at the pictures.  Then I read the whole book, start to finish.  Then I looked through it again, backwards.  I really, really, really wish I could see these pieces up close and personal.  For example, just how close are the quilting lines in Judy Kirpich's and Lisa Call's pieces? Is there texture in Katherine K. Allen's painted surface besides the stitching?  What does the stitching look like in Helene Davis' piece?


And this leads me to my one criticism of the book.  As Pauline said, "...most fiber does not translate well, nor is fully represented, in digital form.....If stitching, piecing, texture, or a special surface treatment are crucial elements in a quilt, they have to be visible in the detail shot."  I couldn't agree more and wish that Lark Books had taken note of that sentiment.  I understand that this is meant to be a cocktail art book and, as such, is supposed to be a visual treat with a high-end feel -- hence the hard cover.  However, in my opinion, much of the beauty in our art form comes from the texture created by the artist.  I would prefer that Lark use a format enabling us to see detail photos of all the pieces, not just those for which there was extra space on the page.  For example, I would have loved to see a detail of Sue Cavanaugh's, Ori-Kume 20 piece, the winner of the Lynn Goodwin Borgman Award for Surface Design.  Unfortunately, the page couldn't accommodate a detail shot.  Too bad.  I'd be willing to trade a hard cover for more pages in a volume containing detail pictures from all the quilts.  (If you do want to see excellent pictures of the exhibit, along with some thought-provoking text, visit Kathy Loomis' blog.  She wrote an eleven-part series on her impressions on the exhibit, especially interesting since she's an exhibitor as well. She also reviews other shows and shares her thoughts on art in general.  I'm a big fan.)


Lest you think otherwise, I consider the book money well spent.  I'm sure I'll linger over it for many hours to come and force my children to linger over it, too.  And some day, I hope to get to see the exhibit myself.  But first, I'm going up to my studio to ask myself thoughtful questions about what I'm creating.