Fibermania

Open for Discussion

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Lisa Call, an artist for whom I have tremendous respect has asked this question, in reference to my whining remarks about not wanting to even have to quilt a quilt.

L: Otherwise I question - why a quilt? Why not something else - why not just stretch the piece on stretcher bars and be done with it if you don't want to quilt it?

Here's my wimpy answer:

M: Uh, because shipping it to venues is ridiculous if it is a mounted
piece. Joy Saville stretchers her quilts and they wonderful,

Joy Saville's art is stretched here for you to see

but then they are not in quilt shows and go directly to some office wall or someplace like that.

and then her cogent, thoughtful, kick in my butt response:

L: Yes but if you are making art for art's sake this comment isn't valid.
It's about saleability and managability - art for art's sake is about making the artwork that is appropriate and ignoring such picky details because in the end you can work around those things.
Sure it might cost more to ship but if that is the artwork you want to make is that a good reason to not make it?

Well, sitting here with my head spinning, I have excuses piled high, but they are so transparent and wimpy I can barely articulate them. Nevertheless...

How I would love to make art for art sake, solely. If that were the case, I would be back fooling around with painting right now, not making quilts.

But making quilts is my job, my responsibility, my career, and not my flight of fancy at the moment (which painting would be, as a matter of fact, and next week it could be fimo, or jewelry or paper dolls). I use the term flight of fancy because I think I would be nuts to divert at this stage of the game and start stretching my quilt tops and stacking them up for sale, without any possible venue or agent or gallery where they could or would go.

I might as well give up any idea of further income, which is QUITE important around here at Chez Johnson.

I could go back to waitressing if making ART FOR ART SAKE was that important to me. But alas, that way of thinking is for the young and idealistic. Call me a coward, but I know I am already nearing the edge of sanity and had better stick to what has worked for me in the past.

And then she said:

L:
If the art is finished after you have completed the quilt top then stop - don't ruin it with quilting lines if you feel it is not necessary to complete the art.
Say bye bye to the quilt world and hello to the art world - don't let the quilting world set up artificial restrictions on your work.

M: Did I mention idealistic? O would that it were all so easy to switch. (Easy means a lot to me.)

Having just been in Santa Fe, where there are more galleries than anywhere, short of NYC, there is only one gallery with quilts, and there, only two quilt artists were featured. Sue Benner, and Tim Harding. Two pieces each.

Now I happen to live in the Chicago area which is a town that so much wants to be New York, and has a dearth of fiber art galleries, but lots of quilt shows. The only people I know that hang quilts as art, are those that make them.

Well, not really.

Frieda Anderson found an ice cream shop that hangs her work, and sells a piece every now and then. We also have the Fine Line Art Center which has shown our quilts, but as for selling them, a person would have to have the services of a detective to find someone to take their money as the gallery is separate from the yarn store, which really makes the money.

If there were a gallery that I could approach with my work, I definitely would consider the stretcher thing, because to the general public, that might be more acceptable as 'art' than the quilted piece.

But here's the bottom line...on my last trip, I rolled up about 20 quilts, in my suitcase and sold three. That's real life. Coincidentally, none were quilted to death. Ha!

So I am not your trailblazer former quilt artist turned framed fiber artist. I am just a working stiff who is lucky enough to have a job in this cwazy world of qwilts.