Women of the Cloth

Women of the Cloth continues on exhibit at the Bunker Hill Community College through April 18. If you have any interest in fiber, go now. You may want more than one visit to take it in.

Laura Montgomery, director, has broadly interpreted the show's tactile and spiritual themes. The 52 pieces explore a range of contemporary textile art. Some pieces celebrate traditional techniques, such as quilting, shibori,and mud dyeing. But most take the tradition and stretch it into new forms, even a silk-screened body bag.

Kasia Bytnerowicz's deconstructed paintings echo with the presence of the body that has just left the room. Laura Morrison's whimsical felted creatures disturb you with their suggestion of growth gone awry. Margot Stage's Flight (pictured below) feels like a model for a huge installation. Jennifer Mecca shreds used clothing only to reassemble it in the model of a regal kimono.

Every piece comes from a deep point of experience.
Jeanne Williamson calls the exhibit "competitive to Fiber Art International," quite a compliment. From a walk on the beach to a brush with cancer, from an empty room to a pointless war, the show explores personal journeys and profound concerns.

Save Our Stories

Karen Musgrave and the Alliance for American Quilts recently teamed up with the Alzheimer's Quilt Initiative to document the stories behind the traveling exhibit of quilts, Alzheimer's: Piece by Piece. She interviewed me by phone last week, and posted our conversation on-line this morning. My words will be in the Library of Congress. What a strange feeling that is.


My quilt, Trying to Remember, is a tribute to my dad, who died with Alzheimer's some ten years ago. Here he is, as a young man, and much later, as I remember him.

We should meet sometime

Wandering the internet, I found the amazing installations of Rachel Hayes.
Check her out. She'll have you thinking about fabric and place in a whole new way. I was so moved I emailed her, asking about materials. Guess what? She shops at Joanne's Fabrics, just like the rest of us. So it's not the materials, honey: it's the artist that wields them. I can think of a lot of places that would be improved by draping in cloth.