Opening Reception
Saturday, May 4, 3:00-4:30pm
Meet Marie O'Kelley and see the new exhibits! Free and open to all!
Saturday, May 4, 3:00-4:30pm
Meet Marie O'Kelley and see the new exhibits! Free and open to all!
Landmarks Gallery - First Floor
A Quilted Earth
Marie O'Kelley May 1 - June 2, 2024 Marie O’Kelley is a Seattle native, deeply rooted in the PNW. Dogs, plants and coffee are on her list of life’s essentials. Both of her parents were “makers,” her father a woodworker, and her mother always with some type of fiber project in her hands. Both of Marie’s parents encouraged and supported whatever creative impulses she expressed, but it was her grandmother who introduced her to quilting, and as her only granddaughter, she felt a responsibility to continue that tradition. Marie made her first quilt in 1972, and enjoys handwork, be it piecing, appliqué, hand quilting or embroidery. Elements of traditional quilt blocks often influence her designs, in recognition of the earlier quilt artists who inspired her. “Before quilting took over my artistic life, I had worked with stained glass,” says Marie, “that ended with the birth of my daughter, tiny shards of glass not being compatible with cuddling an infant. Creating designs for stained glass influenced the way I work with appliqué, and is tied to my interest in color interactions.” Marie has a background in forestry and horticulture, and many of her quilts reflect her interest in the natural world. She loves to combine her diverse interests, using plants to create pattern on fabric, exploring the use of natural dyes, and using her photos as the basis for quilt designs. Inspiration for her fiber art may be as simple as a beautiful piece of fabric that challenges her to showcase, or from learning some amazing tidbit about a creature or natural phenomenon; a quilt is Marie’s way of sharing that amazement. “I hope to focus attention on the beauty and wonder of the plants and animals that share our world, to celebrate their uniqueness and in some small way, contribute to their preservation.” |
Second Floor
New Meditation
Silks & Weavings by Melissa Scherrer Paré & Audrey Ducas May 1 - July 7, 2024 Melissa Scherrer Paré is an artist and designer currently living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Using batik wax-resist, she dyes and paints on habotai silk, a diaphanous fabric and ideal substrate for creating luminous floating images of the natural world. Some surfaces are created with brushes, others with non-traditional tools foundnd around her home, like lipstick applicators and socks. Other works in this exhibit pull from popular motifs found in domestic textiles and clothing patterns created specifically for ‘mature women.’ Melissa reorganizes these patterns, adding color, organic lines and free flowing shapes to form intricate mandalas. Although substantial in detail, these pieces have a tendency to go off the structural rails as intuition takes over. The imperfections begin to form their own patterns, building a visual arrangement of their own. “Although silk appears delicate, it is very strong, with a tensile strength that allows it to withstand great pressure. Much like the prevailing qualities of femininity, I’m interested in both the softness that silk presents, as well as its ability to hold together under pressure. This duality makes silk the perfect canvas to explore the discipline of appearing elegant while handling constant obstacles.” Melissa holds an MFA from the University of Illinois - Chicago. Her work has been exhibited throughout the US including the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts. Melissa works across several disciplines including silk paintings, paper pulp sculpture, wearables and photography. Audrey Ducas is a textile artist based between Portland, Oregon and the south of France in Drôme Provençale. She received a bachelor’s degree in textile design in Aubusson, France — the world capital of tapestry — and a Master’s from Paris’ esteemed Ensci Design Institute. Afterward, Ducas relocated to New York City and spent 10 years working in high-end textile design, traveling the globe and collaborating with the hidden artisans behind our planet’s most striking textiles. She sees weaving as a conversation between the permanent and the impermanent, the organized and the chaotic, stillness and playfulness, and the unshakable verticality of the earth-divine plane (steady warp) against the horizontality of the human plane (dynamic weft). The pieces become stories of an instinctual nature where the occasional twists and turns of the weft bring emotions, questions and perhaps understanding to the surface. Melissa and Audrey met at SHOPPE OBJECT in New York City, an independent home and gift show, presenting curated rosters of visionary brands and makers. |
Third Floor
Stone Portraits
and Sacred Stonescapes Denise Labadie February 7 - May 5, 2024 Denise Labadie makes art quilts of megalithic stones and monoliths, and more recent monastic ruins. These history-rich structures are timeless, with the resulting quilts oftentimes evoking emotional, almost cellular remembrances of human pasts largely forgotten, and of feelings rarely surfaced. Denise's quilts are known for their moody and emotional realism – true-to-life stones and abstract landscapes – and, technically, for their assertive quilt top textures, hand-painted fabrics, the integrated use of multiple appliqué techniques, subtle color complexity, light management and shadowing, perspective, and craftsmanship and technique precision. Viewers often feel – particularly with her portals and passageways – that these story-telling quilts actually “pull them in”, that they want to actually go into and through them. Viewers are also fascinated that she constructs her quilts very much the same way as a stone mason builds a wall – individually cutting and appliquéing each stone (from her hand-painted fabric), one by one, working from the ground up. Labadie's goal is for fiber art to be seen as fine art – art that moves the viewer, evokes emotion, seems alive, makes you feel or remember something important, makes you want to go there, makes you want to be there now, in the moment. Her "stones" portfolio now exceeds 50 quilts. She is a multiple Quilt National (USA) award winner and her work is widely published. Labadie has had major solo exhibitions at both the US National Quilt Museum and multiple national quilt exhibitions worldwide including China, France, Italy, Germany, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, South Korea, and Spain. |
UPCOMING EXHIBITS
Word Quilts - Janine Holzman | May 8 - July 28, 2024
A Look Through Americana - From the Permanent Collection | June 5 - 30, 2024
Fiber Art Avian Rhapsody - Serap Whitmer | July 3 - 28, 2024
Quilts Japan: The 16th Quilt Nihon | July 10 - October 13, 2024
Having a Moment - Kendall Ross | July 31 - October 6, 2024
A Look Through Americana - From the Permanent Collection | June 5 - 30, 2024
Fiber Art Avian Rhapsody - Serap Whitmer | July 3 - 28, 2024
Quilts Japan: The 16th Quilt Nihon | July 10 - October 13, 2024
Having a Moment - Kendall Ross | July 31 - October 6, 2024