A selection of my quilts from 1985 to the present, varying in scale, processes and subject matter.
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SPQR, 2013
70" x 48"
Stenciled and commercially available cottons and cotton blends. Fused and machine appliquéd, machine pieced; hand quilted. Photo credit: Jean Vong.
The past, both ancient and more recent, is always present in the Eternal City. The ancient acronym SPQR (Senatus Populusque Romanus, "the senate and people of Rome") is still used by the modern municipality. Here, a contemporary mannequin--you may think of her as Candida, patron saint of yeast infections--is haloed by the coffered ceiling of the Pantheon. Is she receiving an electric shock from those outstretched fingers?--a shout-out to Michelangelo's fresco in the Sistine Chapel. Her torso is a composite capital in the Capitoline Museum, in Rome. The borders are based on Roman cosmati, or mosaic floors. And no image of Rome would be complete without a buzzing flock of Vespas, with an old Fiat thrown in for good measure.
FYI: The quote stenciled in the lower section is from Gary Shteyngart's Super Sad True Love Story (2010): "The city of Rome appeared around us, casually splendid, eternally assured of itself, happy to take our money and pose for a photo, but in the end needing nothing and no one.”