Anna Torma / Dorothy Caldwell

A Red Hill/A Green Hill 2012 by Dorothy Caldwell
 ink wash, earth ochre on cotton with stitching and applique, 284.4 x 294.6 cm 

This post highlights two of my Canadian heroines and their beautiful philosophies about making.

In this interview with Dorothy Caldwell  Dimitri Papatheodorou of the Art Gallery of Northumberland in Cobourg Ontario visits Dorothy in her studio this summer. (2020).  The two discussed her touring 2014 exhibition Silent Ice Deep Silence and the research that went into creating the work for it. 

Book of Abandoned Details  2018 by Anna Torma
cotton, silk, hand stitched 136 x 135 cm

The next video is a conversation with Anna Torma and is presented by the Esker Foundation, Calgary Alberta in honour of her 2018 exhibition there, Book of Abandoned Details

A Red Hill/A Green Hill by Dorothy Caldwell, earth ochres and hand stitch detail

It's been difficult for museums and art galleries (and for artists) during this pandemic time.  Closures and now appointments and mask wearing make the gallery experiences challenging for everyone.  

Dorothy Caldwell is one of eleven artists curated into an exhibition entitled Cloth Constructions at the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln Nebraska this winter by David Hornung.  Here's the link. 

Book of Abandoned Details 2018 by Anna Torma
hand stitched cotton and silk  136 x 136 cm

Anna Torma's solo exhibition Permanent Danger was hung but the gallery had to close before the opening ceremonies last April.  It has since re-opened at the Museum for Textiles in Toronto Canada and has been extended until March 2021.   

Congratulations to these artists and to the curators who have have championed them.  Textile art is best when you can see (and yearn to touch) it in real life rather than on a screen or printed in magazine or book.    Let's try to visit art galleries again and be nourished.

Just for fun

The quilts in this post are from the Whimsy exhibition currently up at the International Quilt Museum until November 30.  Above is: 

Fans  1890 - 1910
Ardis and Robert James Collection

The mixed striped fabric ground, the embroidered stars here and there.

Love Apple
Anna McGinty McNabb and probably also Ruth Deaver     1882-1885
Gift of Robert and Ardis James Foundation
Love Apple means Tomato

the spiral design

Friendship Quilt
Mary Elizabeth Shelby  1940

The buttons!  All those buttons entirely cover the surface.
This quilt weighs more than 40 pounds.

Quilts from Western India

       Permaben Maheshwari Dangera, Nani Khakhar, Kutch , Gujaret, India

collected by Patricia Stoddard and Martha Wallace
for the International Quilt Study Center and Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska

Permaben's quilts are improvisations on traditional styles.  This quilt is named Laheria (waves) which is the name of a tie dye motif for men's turbans but instead of the dye method, Permaben used thin pieces of cloth to make the zig zag motifs.

Permaben Maheshwari Dangera from Nani Khakhar, Kutch, Gujaret. 
Collected in India by Patricia stoddard and martha wallace
for the International quilt study Center and museum, Lincoln nebraska

In this mustard yellow quilt we again see Permaben'soriginal style.  There are no repeating patterns.   "The people in the village made fun of me" she told the researchers from the International Quilt Museum.

In this post are a few of the godhari (quilts) in the collection of quilts from Western India now on display at the International Quilt Study Center and Museum in Lincoln Nebraska USA.  For more, please visit this online link.   I am quite excited by these textiles.  As I am not able to visit the exhibition in person, it is wonderful that the internet allows us an opportunity to see the quilts. 

The next 4 square-shaped quilts are all made by members of the fortune teller group (joshi).  The one above was found near Pune, India by collector, Geeta Khandelwal.

The above godhari was found near Baramati,  also by Geeta.  At the link you can read about her time in these villages, and how eager the women were to show her their work.

The one above was found near Pune, also made by a member of the fortune telling group and collected by Geeta Khandewal.

This black one is from Wai, a village near the resort town of Mahabelshwar Maharashtra, another collected by Geeta.  The base fabric is a rarely worn black sari onto which the artist patched strips of colour radiating out from a face to represent the sun.

Siddi women's Quilting co-op member, Mibjam Bausabi, Uttar Kannad, Kamataka

The Siddi are an ethnic group descended from East African people who came as slaves to India in the  16th Century.  The women have made quilts for generations.

Iramma Kademari (1915 - 2010)  a bed quilt, made in Kumati Bijapur

The maker of the above quilt, Iramma, lived with 50 other family members all under one roof.  Over her lifetime she made more than 200 quilts from recycled clothing and bits of fabric.

These quilts are full of heart.  They are authentic expressions of enjoyment and love.
They make me happy.