Virginia A. Spiegel

A little TLC for the big blue marble

Have you heard about the Dream Rocket?  This is a mind-boggling project from Jennifer Marsh and the International Fiber Collaborative:

The wrapping of the Saturn V Rocket will consist of over 8000 fabric and mixed media panels representing dreams for our future and visionaries of our past. Schools, groups, and individuals from  all over the world have been joining in this project for the past six months.”  So far, Jennifer believes they have participants from an estimated 37 states and a dozen countries such as Bangladesh, Kenya, Serbia, Finland, Australia, Norway, Haiti, and Germany. The Dream Rocket’s goal is to gain participants from 100 countries and all 50 states. Participants are encouraged to ask themselves, “What is my dream for a better tomorrow?”

Being subtle is really not needed for a rocket taller than the Statue of Liberty.  For the background of the piece, I cut up an older art quilt and sewed it back together to meet the project’s 2′square size requirements.  I thought recycling would be a good way to further my theme.  This is the back of my Dream Rocket donation:

You can still participate in this landmark collaborative fiber event.  All the details are here.

Once
Hand-dyed cotton, acrylic paint, Tyvek from a lab jacket, embroidery thread.

The opening reception for Art Quilts XIV:  Significant Stitching is Friday, November 20, from 7-9 p.m. at the Chandler Center for the Arts, 250 N. Arizona Ave., Chandler, Arizona . Music will be provided by jazz musician Pete Pancrazi.  The exhibit runs November 20, 2009 – January 2, 2010.  Here is a list of all the artists in the exhibit.

Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday and Saturday, noon-4 p.m. In addition, Chandler Center for the Arts patrons enjoy the works before shows and during intermissions.  Call 480.917.6859 for holiday hours.

My artwork subverts the theme as all the stitching, by hand, can only be seen on the back.  The stitching can’t be seen on the front due to layers and layers of screen printing, mainly in metallic paint.  The artwork is my commentary on over-consumerism and waste:

How can we sustain an environment in which Tyvek lab jackets are worn once in a sterile environment and then discarded?  Squares cut from just such a jacket were painted in delicate earth colors, hand-quilted to hand-dyed cotton and then buried beneath layers upon layers of screenprinted paint. Consider all that time spent in hand-stitching which will never be seen except from the back. It’s a small sacrifice made to call attention how the glittery surface of our consumer society hides an ugly truth: our failure to embrace a time-consuming commitment to reduce, reuse, recycle.

You can see the hand stitching on the underlayer in progress of this artwork (when I thought it would be called Discarded) here.

Once (detail)
Hand-dyed cotton, acrylic paint, Tyvek from a lab jacket, embroidery thread.

This artwork is 35.5″ x 32,” but I prefer not to show the entire artwork until closer to its exhibition debut at Art Quilts XIV:  Significant Stitching at the Chandler Center for the Arts, Chandler, AZ.

The prospectus for this exhibit stated, This year’s theme encourages you to explore what makes your work significant. Is it the statement your piece makes? Is it quilting lines made meaningful by placement? Surface design which speaks to the soul? Amazing quilting or appliqué?

I very much wanted to play against the exhibit title. The quilting on this artwork can only be seen on the back.   Here’s my artist statement,

How can we sustain an environment in which Tyvek lab jackets are worn once in a sterile environment and then discarded?  Squares cut from just such a jacket were painted in delicate earth colors, hand-quilted to hand-dyed cotton and then buried beneath layers upon layers of screenprinted paint. Consider all that time spent in hand-stitching which will never be seen except from the back. It’s a small sacrifice made to call attention how the glittery surface of our consumer society hides an ugly truth: our failure to embrace a time-consuming commitment to reduce, reuse, recycle.

The exhibit runs November 20, 2009 – January 2, 2010.

White Light

Even though I closed out The Garbage Day Project, you know I couldn’t resist this crazy worm nest of light sets spilling out of a garbage can.  It reminds me of my own dilemma. I should replace my old holiday lights with the new energy-efficient LED ones. But then what? Chuck all those lights out in the garbage or donate them so someone can have lights, but highly inefficient ones??

On a positive recycling note, check out this great gift idea:

It’s a wine bottle recycled into a cheese board from C.D. Childs’ Etsy shop. It’s a great gift idea, but I’m keeping it for myself.  If you are shopping this holiday season, think handmade!