Underneath it All

“Into the underland we have long placed that which we fear and wish to lose, and that which we love and wish to save.”

Robert Macfarlane
Underland: A Deep Time Journey

I am an art quilter and I am a printmaker, but I was a printmaker first. It’s fairly common for me to see a texture in nature or in the built environment and want to ink it up. I have had these urges concerning bits of pavement, monuments, packing materials, and the soles of shoes as well as wood grain, leaves and petals, roots, and body parts. I confess that I indulge the urge rather frequently.
In this series of small prints, the underside of pieced fabrics stand in as printing plates – soaking up ink and depositing it on paper to reveal what’s underneath a quilt top.
Underneath it All offers a glimpse at what you would discover if you could squeeze in between the layers of a quilt. You can see the seam allowances, the random threads, the twisted seams – all typically (and carefully) hidden in the final product.
The choice of black paper is an acknowledgement that it’s dark between the layers. It’s also true that the times we are living through are dark; the future uncertain and frightening. At the same time, a quilt can bring comfort and warmth in the dark.

Materials & TechniquesMonoprints on black Stonehenge with Caligo Safewash inks. Mounted to panelsDimensionsH: 6” x W: 6” panelsPrice$60.00 per panelDate2020