Erin Wilson's Quilted Short Stories

Illustration: Erin Wilson. Short Story #4, 2009.

The textile artwork of Erin Wilson at first seems effortlessly simple. Small boxes are repeated in a composition that includes regular rows and columns. However, when you consider that each small frame has been individually and consciously designed as a unique composition, and that some of Wilson's finished pieces can incorporate a large number of individual small framed art pieces, then the task set by the artist becomes much more one of quiet construction, with each individual square being seen as a world in itself.

All the fabrics are hand dyed by Wilson and so therefore, each compositional piece of artwork takes that hand dying into consideration, bringing a harmony and balance to the many individual works that go into making Wilson's textile pieces.

Illustration: Erin Wilson. Short Story #5, 2009.

In some respects, the artist has taken the idea of the mechanics of quilting and the production of pattern work into the realms of personal exploration and identity. Each one of the squares shown in these examples of Wilson's work is a window to a creative story. What is impressive is the number of unique creative stories that the artist has incorporated into some of her finished pieces of work. There are textile compositions where the artist has incorporated up to 168 individual squares, each one personally produced with the optimum in balance, proportion and harmony.

Wilson's work is one of both dedication and a unique awareness of the many individual aspects of creativity that layer each piece of textile artwork. She works hard to harness the compatability of all strands of her compositions. Her work can be seen and appreciated in both close detail and as a larger whole. There is an accord between each individual frame and its neighbour. All can then become part of a much larger and more dynamic framework. 

Illustration: Erin Wilson. Short Story #3, 2009.

In many respects, Wilson's compositions can be seen as representations of tenements or housing blocks. Overall, housing blocks are standardised and constructed from mass produced elements with no room for personal flare or individuality. However, within these externally standardised communities each window bares a slightly different vista to the world, despite the regular repetition of each frame. This gives us an analogy whereby we become aware that even though all windows are the same, the people looking through them are all uniquely individual with a life story of achievements and dreams that are unique to them and shared by no one else. However, all the unique windows go on to make a larger whole, so while we are all relatively isolated in our uniqueness, we are still all part of the human community and the ongoing story of that community. In fact, as the titles suggest, these can all be seen as varied and universally distinct short stories.

 Illustration: Erin Wilson. Short Story #1, 2008.

Perhaps Wilson is giving us a glimpse of our own potential to be creative within the framework of our lives. We may all be made from the human template, but we also have the ability to create the parameters of our own distinctiveness.

Erin Wilson is a full time textile artist and has shown her work across the US. She has a comprehensive website where much of her unique work can be seen. The link to her website can be found below, as always in the reference links section.

Illustration: Erin Wilson. Short Story #2, 2009.

All images were reproduced with the kind permission of the artist.

Reference links:

Erin Wilson website

The Textile Art of Linda McCurry - Colour, Texture and Pattern

Illustration: Linda McCurry. Tork.

By Linda McCurry's own estimation, she has been involved in textiles ever since she was able to reach the foot pedal of a sewing machine, and it shows. Here is a lifetimes experience collected from a number of professional guises in the worlds of fashion, pattern prints, and ultimately textile art.

McCurry has brought all the elements of her career into the textile artwork she now produces. There is much going on in the pieces that I have chosen to show in this article. Included are copious amounts of dynamic and energising compositional work, tied together with the experience of constructional tailoring, along with a very knowledgeable and balanced approach to surface pattern and mark-making.

Illustration: Linda McCurry. Tork, Bridge to Hope.

It is the combination of McCurry's experience in the tailoring and pattern making areas of the textile world, which seems to have added so much to the depth and experience of these compositions. There is a timeless, almost primal quality to the overall appearance of the compositions, which inevitably leads you to question whether the work is inspired by the natural world around us, the internal world of our own thoughts, or indeed an element of both. Her own dyed and textured fabrics add so much to the overall nature of her work and her manipulation of the tailoring of colour, pattern and texture is very finely tuned.

There seems to be a large and persistent reference, at least in colour, pattern and structure, to the early human world. One that was full of myth and meaning, coloured by texture and gesture. These compositions seem to show us an element of a world that though seemingly forgotten in the largely urban structure of the twenty first century, is still only just out of reach, just beyond the senses of most of us.

Illustration: Linda McCurry. Tork, Bridge to Hope (detail).

The vertical structure of the main composition signifies the powerful appearance of construction, as if each creative piece was a stand alone three-dimensional sculpture. This dominance of the vertical, shown in both layering and stitching could appear overpowering and even severe in some cases. However, the clever use of a number of small diagonal and horizontal aspects of the composition, throws the vertical off-balance allowing the eye to roam over the whole composition instead of being fixated with the vertical. The ploy works and is very effective in calming down the composition to that of an element of contemplation and introspection.

Illustration: Linda McCurry. Veeds.

It is notoriously difficult to make textile compositions work and work well. Both balance and optical interest have to be observed, with the subject being engaging enough in colour, texture and pattern. Enough indeed to make the piece memorable in a world of so much instant gratification and visual overload. That McCurry succeeds and succeeds well is a testament to her incomparable judgement and skill.

Linda McCurry has exhibited her work extensively across the US. She also holds classes in both colour theory as regards quilting and a number of dye classes. These can all be found, along with many other examples of her work, on her comprehensive website, which can be found below in the reference links section.

Illustration: Linda McCurry. Water Haiku.

All images were used with the kind permission of the artist.

Reference links:

Linda McCurry website