Red Pepper Quilts: The American Folk Art Museum

Last week my husband and I traveled to New York City to fulfill my husband's dream of running the New York City Marathon. If you have been following my blog for a while you might recall that we also traveled to NYC the same time last year for the same reason however as the marathon was canceled (due to hurricane Sandy) we have once again returned here. And yes, this year the marathon was successfully completed by my husband with a great time!

Whilst in New York City I like to make it a priority to visit some of my favorite places including the American Folk Art Museum at Lincoln Square. The current exhibition is called alt_quilts: Sabrina Gschwandtner, Luke Haynes, Stephen Sollins. The exhibition features the works of these three contemporary artists who are inspired by the history and structure of American quilts but who are neither inhibited, constricted, nor defined by it, and use unexpected materials such as 16mm film strips or used paper envelopes.

Camouflage, 2012 by Sabrina Gschwandtner
16mm film, polyamide thread, lithography ink
69.5 inches x 45.5 inches

Sabrina Gschwandtner is a New York based visual artists whose quilts feature the use of 16mm film. The historical films used are short documentaries from 1952 to 1982 focusing on textile crafts such as crocheting, knitting, sewing and quilting.

Arts and Crafts, 2012 by Sabrina Gschwandtner
16mm film, polyamide thread
23.5 inches x 23 inches.

I was fascinated by Sabrina's work; the use of traditional patchwork blocks, techniques and color. The film quilts were presented with strong backlighting (not unlike a lightbox) which emphasized light/shade and positive/negative space. A total of six Film Quilts are available for viewing.

Untitled (Return to Sender) 2010 by Stephen Sollins,
after Mary Jane Smith, 1865
Used envelopes, 78 inches x 72 inches

The work of Stephen Sollins is similarly amazing. This log cabin masterpiece is a paper replica (made from used envelopes) of a traditional style (fabric) log cabin quilt made by Mary Jane Smith (1833-1869). Sollins spent much time carefully analyzing the piecing strategies and color placement of the pattern - his working/planning papers are also available for viewing.

Also by Stephen Sollins:

Untitled (Grandfather's Garden) 2013
Made from used paper envelopes 86.5" x 66"

And also incredible ~ the work by Luke Haynes;

(The American Context #4) Benjamin Franklin 2010
by Luke Haynes
Fabric, batting and thread 100" x 100".

This quilt by Luke Haynes is made to display on a bed and when viewed from a specific angle Franklin appears to be sitting on the corner of the bed.

I enjoyed viewing and photographing this exhibition and have tried to carefully document the information that goes along with each of the quilts. These are only some of the works available for viewing and if you happen to be in the NYC and quilts are your thing, then I can highly recommend you take time to stop by this exhibition.