Forwarding (I-XI), 2016, electrostatic printed paper, printed Tyvek, each 44 in x 33 in x 1/4 in

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

I harbor an ongoing fascination with a set of 306 abstract shapes drawn, cut, and sewn into a Crazy Quilt sometime between 1885 and 1895 by New Jersey quilt-maker Rachel Blair Greene. Her shapes have such surprising character that I imagine them to have been created democratically, each considered as an equal. In Correspondence from the Piecework project I re-created or “re-performed” my own version of her quilt but was unsatisfied with the result. A couple of years later I set out to create a new project which would isolate the shapes and make it possible to see them clearly and in relation to one another.

I didn’t realize when I started that I would go on to produce multiple projects that revisit these shapes in a variety of ways. The first of these projects is Forwarding: I-XI which tries to present all the shapes while making the most of only two materials; USPS Tyvek mailing envelopes and ordinary paper, laser printed with a pinstripe pattern.

Making a crazy quilt often results in leftover and awkward in-between shapes that are adopted by default and don’t feel intentionally drawn. In the case of this quilt no shape feels more or less worthy of attention than any other. I was shocked, and still am, to find no favorites among them.

A random number generator was used to assign shapes to one of ten pieces, each with a different relationship of materials to structure. The elements of the grid vary in color and in the way they overlap. The shapes and fields are patterned, colored or white; the whites are warm or cool, paper or Tyvek. This leads to an eleventh piece in which the remaining shapes and fields are assigned a style from one of the previous ten pieces.

For more on the Forwarding projects visit Forwarding Related Materials.

All Image Credits: Tom Powel Imaging

Explore More