Mole and Fern accepted for SAQA Fur, Fangs, Feathers and Fins

Mole and Fern

I am thrilled and honored to announce that my latest work, Mole and Fern, was one of 42 pieces selected for the SAQA Global Exhibition Fur, Fangs, Feathers & Fins by juror Emily Jan. The exhibit is scheduled to debut at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, in Tucson, Arizona in April 2022, with further venues to be announced as the work travels for 3 years.

Mole and Fern, detail 1

This is, incredibly, the fifth time my work has been selected for a SAQA Global Exhibit, and I am extremely grateful to the organization for the opportunity to share my work with a global audience. 

Mole and Fern, detail 2

Statement:

I am interested in the small mammals that make their homes in my suburban habitat. I enjoy observing them going about their daily routines. I am saddened but also intrigued by their eventual demise and their skeletal remains. For years I’ve worked on an ongoing series of quilts made with imagery from the skeletons. For Mole and Fern, I began by taking macro photographs of an eastern mole skull, Scalopus aquaticus, which I printed on transparencies and used to make cyanotype prints. I also made wet process cyanotype prints and a monoprint of the ferns that grow in the area where I observed mole activity. I made hand-stitched hexagon panels to loosely represent their underground tunneling activity. I combined all these elements with patchwork, layered the quilt, and heavily stitched it to add texture and dimension.

Techniques:

Original macro photography images used for cyanotypes, wet process cyanotypes and heliographic monoprint made with fresh botanicals, hand stitched hexagon panels, patchwork, stitching.

 Materials:

Cyanotype panels, heliographic print panel; hand-painted and commercial cotton, silk, linen and wool fabric.

Size: 

57" high x 40" wide

Mole and Fern, detail 3

 This is the tenth quilt in my ongoing series, Flora and Fauna, which features cyanotype prints of animal skulls. Despite the subject matter, or perhaps because of my take on it, they always end up rather cheerfully presented. None the less they are among the trickiest of my works to find good venues for, so again, I am very appreciative that the juror chose Mole and Fern.