In this month's South Gallery exhibit, artists Pam Gainor and Hannah Reeves each present a series of works in fiber that explore the meaning and memory that cloth can hold. Quilting as a traditional medium preserves fabrics that have been saved or collected by recombining them. These artists push beyond purely functional sewing, composing with fabrics while reflecting on how each piece of cloth brings a sense of history to the ultimate piece.
View the show in person in our South Gallery (Tuesday-Saturday 12-4PM) or view the show online by clicking the button below.
Spot History #2, Hannah Reeves
For a long time, I've been drawn to cloth and sewing (both part of my upbringing), and I tend to think of how the items of comfort around our homes, like quilts, carry a sense of memory and personality. Historic patterns and prints have often made their way into my work in representational form, but for this series I started to think about how stains bring their own stories. Where patterns are precise, stains are out of our control, and yet equally bring a sense of history. To make this series, I stained various fabrics such as linen, muslin, organdy, and raw silk with washes of acrylic paint while they were draped and positioned to help the pigment wick and spread. I then composed using these stained pieces, assembling them into basic, traditional quilt formats. The sewn construction of these pieces directly references nostalgic domesticity, while the pieces of stained fabric more subtly speak to the abstract ways we can mark the passage of time and file away our un-monumental but grounding memories of home.
Hannah Reeves, 2021
The Invention of Wings: Untold Stories
This exhibit is in memory of my father. He was a very kind and quiet man who never spoke of his experiences as a glider pilot in the South Pacific during World War II. All that remains from those years are faded photographs with names scribbled on the backs: Lubbock, Biac, Guadalcanal, Tokyo. He brought home many kimono to my mother and I played with as a child.
My dad passed on before it ever occurred to me to ask what he did during that time, what he saw, how he felt. The Invention of Wings was made several years ago incorporating pieces of the kimono he’d brought home. What better tribute to a glider pilot I’d thought, who also soars on wind currents like birds.
Untold Stories were made this year to continue the theme of uncertain remembrances, beauty and destruction. They are made with kimono fabric, eco dyed and rusted fabric, sutures and the occaisonal feather.
Pam Gainor, 2021
