I became a SAQA member when I discovered that the weird small-scale quilting I do had a name. But these days I'm calling my work by other names--textile mixed media when paints and non-textile materials were used, just "textiles" for the smallest pieces, or embroidered textiles when a lot of hand-stitching was involved. They are all still art quilts by the SAQA definition, but I think my descriptions are becoming more faithful to the processes involved in the making.
Your descriptions are very faithful and right on point… SAQA will always refer to them as art quilts because its baked into their name, but really what they are is textile art… a term I much prefer! So much more expansive.
A really interesting and stimulating read, thank you. Re Willa Catha. In the UK we used to call girls and teenagers who preferred masculine attire and activities ‘Tom boys’, it was seen as a very normal part of growing up. lesbian relationships have never been illegal and up to the early 20th century were not deemed immoral or perverted - probably because women were not seen to have sexual agency and most women had no rights or the vote so were ignored by male society. Women were able to have strong emotional relationships with each other and two women living together was not viewed as anything abnormal. There are many examples of adult women adopting masculine attire and not conforming to sex stereotypical roles - Radcliffe Hall and ‘Gentleman Jack’ spring to mind (both lesbians) It was much easier for women of independent means or wealth to live as they wished. Working class women much less so. There was an attempt by parliament in the 1920s to make lesbianism illegal but it failed. It is interesting to me how ‘gender’ has been pathologised and stigmatised.
Also very interesting about the difference between art and craft in textile work. It seems to be connected to differentiation between the public (male) and private/ domestic (female) spheres. White male voices have dominated for so long in the art world (as elsewhere). Textiles are finally getting recognition in the art world after many many years of female artists using textiles (partly because often they were the only materials available to them). When I was at art school 40 years ago, the textile dept was still seen as craft. Fine Art (painting, sculpture, printmaking) was ‘real’ art. I’m glad the distinction is now being redefined.
For me the distinction between a quilt and a banner feels obvious. A banner is designed for public display. A quilt is made for the private home.
Mostly I was surprised that no one seemed to care all that much what Willa did in an area of the US that is now extremely conservative. I think today it would be a much bigger deal for some kid to try on another gender and that is really depressing. My art school experience, also 40 years ago, was more welcoming to textile experiments. It was considered a 'fine art' school that paid no attention to any of the more practical arts. My photography teacher made a quilt and brought it in to show us. It was made from a large negative of a photo of a bat she'd found and then printed using Vandyke brown processing. It really stuck with me and all these years later, it's not photography that interests me but quilting.
Yes, gender bending was so common in the 60s, 70s and 80s - think Marc Bolan, Bowie, Grace Jones, Annie Lennox and no one cared apart from the reactionary conservative press.
So many interesting and thoughtful ideas. I think you're really hitting on the reality that many things can be true -- and even conflicting -- in various situations. Sometimes men are favored because they're men, sometimes they are dismissed. Sometimes it really matters how we label and defines things, sometimes it doesn't. Thanks for putting all this into words.
I’m into the second four-year stretch of not having to wear glasses to drive as a result of strategically planned cataract surgeries. Enjoy being able to see again. Hope it works out as well for you as it did for me.
Lots of interesting thoughts here, I think a lot about the 'art quilt issue'. Here in the UK the Contemporary Quilt group, part of the Quilters Guild of Great Britain and Ireland, has renamed itself Contemporary Textiles.
For my recent BA in Textiles Practice my final written work asked the question, what is the difference between a quilt and a banner? I concluded a piece of work could be a quilt and a banner. Why does it need to be identified as anything? It is what it is, but it does have to have two layers to be judged in the Festival of Quilts.
Oh I like that! really think textiles is a better word all around unless the piece actually is a quilt. When you mention banners I think of the Suffragettes, might need to do some research about whether they also made quilts. Thanks for reading!
May I just say that I’ll relish reading whatever you write for all time. Always a delight!
Thank you 💕
I became a SAQA member when I discovered that the weird small-scale quilting I do had a name. But these days I'm calling my work by other names--textile mixed media when paints and non-textile materials were used, just "textiles" for the smallest pieces, or embroidered textiles when a lot of hand-stitching was involved. They are all still art quilts by the SAQA definition, but I think my descriptions are becoming more faithful to the processes involved in the making.
Your descriptions are very faithful and right on point… SAQA will always refer to them as art quilts because its baked into their name, but really what they are is textile art… a term I much prefer! So much more expansive.
A really interesting and stimulating read, thank you. Re Willa Catha. In the UK we used to call girls and teenagers who preferred masculine attire and activities ‘Tom boys’, it was seen as a very normal part of growing up. lesbian relationships have never been illegal and up to the early 20th century were not deemed immoral or perverted - probably because women were not seen to have sexual agency and most women had no rights or the vote so were ignored by male society. Women were able to have strong emotional relationships with each other and two women living together was not viewed as anything abnormal. There are many examples of adult women adopting masculine attire and not conforming to sex stereotypical roles - Radcliffe Hall and ‘Gentleman Jack’ spring to mind (both lesbians) It was much easier for women of independent means or wealth to live as they wished. Working class women much less so. There was an attempt by parliament in the 1920s to make lesbianism illegal but it failed. It is interesting to me how ‘gender’ has been pathologised and stigmatised.
Also very interesting about the difference between art and craft in textile work. It seems to be connected to differentiation between the public (male) and private/ domestic (female) spheres. White male voices have dominated for so long in the art world (as elsewhere). Textiles are finally getting recognition in the art world after many many years of female artists using textiles (partly because often they were the only materials available to them). When I was at art school 40 years ago, the textile dept was still seen as craft. Fine Art (painting, sculpture, printmaking) was ‘real’ art. I’m glad the distinction is now being redefined.
For me the distinction between a quilt and a banner feels obvious. A banner is designed for public display. A quilt is made for the private home.
Mostly I was surprised that no one seemed to care all that much what Willa did in an area of the US that is now extremely conservative. I think today it would be a much bigger deal for some kid to try on another gender and that is really depressing. My art school experience, also 40 years ago, was more welcoming to textile experiments. It was considered a 'fine art' school that paid no attention to any of the more practical arts. My photography teacher made a quilt and brought it in to show us. It was made from a large negative of a photo of a bat she'd found and then printed using Vandyke brown processing. It really stuck with me and all these years later, it's not photography that interests me but quilting.
Yes, gender bending was so common in the 60s, 70s and 80s - think Marc Bolan, Bowie, Grace Jones, Annie Lennox and no one cared apart from the reactionary conservative press.
That quilt made by the photography teacher sounds very cool
So many interesting and thoughtful ideas. I think you're really hitting on the reality that many things can be true -- and even conflicting -- in various situations. Sometimes men are favored because they're men, sometimes they are dismissed. Sometimes it really matters how we label and defines things, sometimes it doesn't. Thanks for putting all this into words.
Yes! right? nothing really is as clear-cut as we think.
I’m into the second four-year stretch of not having to wear glasses to drive as a result of strategically planned cataract surgeries. Enjoy being able to see again. Hope it works out as well for you as it did for me.
I'm really excited for the results!
Lots of interesting thoughts here, I think a lot about the 'art quilt issue'. Here in the UK the Contemporary Quilt group, part of the Quilters Guild of Great Britain and Ireland, has renamed itself Contemporary Textiles.
For my recent BA in Textiles Practice my final written work asked the question, what is the difference between a quilt and a banner? I concluded a piece of work could be a quilt and a banner. Why does it need to be identified as anything? It is what it is, but it does have to have two layers to be judged in the Festival of Quilts.
Oh I like that! really think textiles is a better word all around unless the piece actually is a quilt. When you mention banners I think of the Suffragettes, might need to do some research about whether they also made quilts. Thanks for reading!