Quilt National – Deidre Adams

disruption

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.

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.

May 24th, 2015|Exhibitions|16 Comments

Various matters

Returning to the Source, 78 x 32 inches, mixed media textile, ©2012

Yesterday I received word that my piece Tracings III (no, not the one you see here) has been accepted into Quilt National 2013. We aren’t allowed to have the work shown or published anywhere prior to the opening. There is an exception stating that you can publish it on your own site, but in these days of Pinterest, etc., that would be taking a huge risk. So I’m probably not alone in keeping it under wraps for the next 6+ months. Congratulations to all of the accepted artists!

The piece above is from Seasonal Palette, a new exhibition from SAQA featuring quilts by 37 artists, who were each chosen to express one of the seasons. The quilts are all the same size, 78 x 32 inches, which should make a beautiful exhibit when they’re all hung size by side. The exhibit will be premiering at IQF Houston on Nov. 1. There is a beautiful hard-copy catalog which will be available soon from SAQA; I’ll post the link when it becomes available.

Here are a few details from Returning:

The final bit of news is that I’ll be leaving on Saturday for a 2-week trip to Peru. The itinerary includes Lima, Arequipa, Colca Canyon, the Sacred Valley of the Incas, Machu Picchu (of course!), y mucho más. Can’t wait!

October 9th, 2012|Exhibitions|6 Comments