disruption, ©2014 Deidre Adams. 55 x 98 inches. Stitched textile, acrylic paint, found papers.

Quilt National 2015 is now officially open! If I have any readers who aren’t familiar with QN, this is the most prestigious exhibition of art quilts in North America (and possibly the world). From the Quilt National website:

Quilt National was intended to demonstrate the transformations taking place in the world of quilting. Its purpose was then, and still is, to carry the definition of quilting far beyond its traditional parameters and to promote quiltmaking as what it always has been — an art form.

The works in a Quilt National exhibit display a reverence for the lessons taught by the makers of the heritage quilts. Many of the works hold fast to the traditional methods of piecing and patching. At the same time, however, the Quilt National artist is intrigued by the challenge of expanding the boundaries of traditional quiltmaking by utilizing the newest materials and technologies. These innovative works generate strong emotional responses in the viewer while at the same time fulfilling the creative need of the artist to make a totally individual statement.

Read more about the history of Quilt National here.

Out of nearly 1,000 entries, only 84 pieces made the cut this year. I’m honored to be among those chosen by jurors Rosalie Dace, Anne Johnston, and Judy Schwender. Because it’s very important that Quilt National be the first to show these innovative new works, they have a very strict rule that no accepted piece can have been published anywhere in print or on the web prior to the show opening. So in order to avoid the heartbreak of disqualification, most of us keep our work under wraps until the opening.

But now it’s safe to do the reveal, so above is my entry, disruption. (Yes, the lack of capitalization is intentional.) Here’s a detail shot:

disruption, detail

Coming soon: Scenes from the opening reception at the Dairy Barn Arts Center in Athens, Ohio.