55. 'Juneteenth-20 / Heroics' 2020.9 51"x41" African wax print, Kente design, and Civil War pictures on cloth. Gifted and found materials. 900.

This is in the 'Fiber Arts Now' spring edition, as part of the 'Excellence in Fibers VII'. It will be on display at the Schweinfurth Art Center, Auburn, NY. 

May 28 - Aug 14, 2022.

Some questions I answered about this piece is below.

 

        

What do you want the audience to feel when they see your work? 

I want the viewer to feel joy.

What is the overall goal of this piece? 

To remind us that the Civil War resulted in a people freed from bondage and that is what we celebrate on Juneteenth. That history includes all people in a conflict, not just the leaders.

What is the most important thing to you about this artwork?

That I get to express what I feel and share it.

Why did you choose to highlight this political undertone in this piece? 

I’m not a very political person. But I do listen and am a part of my society.  When I learned about Juneteenth in 2020, so many years after the fact, I took note.

A Missouri acquaintance knew of an artist getting rid of fabric and got me a whole bunch of scraps. Among them were a few small pieces depicting scenes of Confederate and Union soldiers not fighting but making peace. I thought of how Missouri was a state that had men fighting on both sides of the war. 

I also have beautiful African fabrics. I framed the heroic figures coming together in peace with the celebratory colors of African cloths on the front side. On the back you see fabric printed with red, white and blue bunting against a night sky of small fireworks, this is interwoven with the African cloth from the front. To me, I feel the euphoria of 4th of July festivities combined with Juneteenth.

Is this a theme of more of your work?

Not exactly. All of my two sided woven quilts deal with commenting, complimenting, and/or contrasting one side with the other. I wouldn’t have searched for fabric of Confederate and Union soldiers. Chance plays a large part of what I bring together.

Is there anything else I didn't ask about that you'd like to add?

Some of the best views of my pieces are seen when they are tossed into a 3D heap. Of course the “story" is not read easily as it becomes a jumble of colored and patterned squares. Sometimes I can be very literal and sometimes very abstract.