Spotlight on In Dreams I Found Utopia

In Dreams I Found Utopia

Today I am shining a spotlight on In Dreams I Found Utopia, one of the quilts included in my upcoming solo show Beyond the Blue: Contemporary Narrative Quilts by Sue Reno, at the Virginia Quilt Museum in Harrisonburg, VA . The exhibit runs from August 16 - October 23, with a reception on September 23.

I finished this one in 2019, when I was taking refuge from political realities by spending a lot of time biking the Northwest Lancaster County River Trail along the Susquehanna River. I became very intimate with various sections of the trail, drinking in the lush plant life and the eternal flow of the river, and it gave me some kind of sci-fi hope for a future with egalitarian ideals. 

In Dreams I Found Utopia, detail 1

I now look back on this optimism, post pandemic peak, rather wryly, but still, I am here to spread the beauty and joy to the best of my ability. 

This quilt is part of artist and curator Rob Evans' fabulous project, Drawing on the Susquehanna. It was scheduled to be exhibited in 2020 at Susquehanna University but the exhibit was cancelled, as were so many others. Rob did an amazing job of documenting the catalog online here, and I recommend it highly if you have an interest in the Susquehanna, early American history, or just want to see an example of beautiful artwork excellently curated.

In Dreams I Found Utopia, detail 2

One of the panels on this quilt features leaves I had gathered and dried, used in a wet process cyanotype print. It was made late in the year, so it doesn't have the wild variegations that a midsummer print often produces. But I love the quiet and subtle beauty of it, and I had great fun painstakingly stitching all the leaf veins and adding pebble quilting to the background.

 

In Dreams I Found Utopia, detail 3

The needlefelted and beaded river panel references, in my mind, a very specific section of the trail where in high water events the water breaches the trail and settles in curved depressions around the trees on the other side. But keeping with my "Narrative" theme for the exhibit, it is also general and open ended enough to stand in for any river or stream that is a treasured part of the viewer's personal story.

In Dreams I Found Utopia, detail 4

My experience with the Susquehanna includes not just the idyllic days spent biking its shores, but also the violent surge of floodwaters after Hurricane Agnes and other smaller storms and ice jam events. The patchwork surrounding the panels are bits and pieces saved from other quilts, representing the flotsam and jetsam, some of it quite dramatic and chaotic, that makes its way downriver during a flood. 

This quilt is 67" x 53".

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