Landmarks Gallery - First Floor
Fiber Art
Avian Rhaspody Artist Serap Whitmer July 3 - 28, 2024 Birds and flowers are only a small part of her exploration. Serap Whitmer is a self-taught Turkish-American fiber artist who earned her PhD in Pharmacognosy from Leiden University in the Netherlands. Her studies were rooted in nature and now inspire her art. Memory, place, culture and nostalgia are also important concepts. In addition to her visuals, Whitmer’s work takes into consideration the relationship between traditional methods and technology. That is, traditional hand-work can be seen in the form of 3D elements, hand stitches, embroidery, crochet, beads and vintage lace, whereas, most notably in her birds, computer programs and laser cutters are used to model and cut thousands of feathers. Combined, these methods enhance the stories that permeate through her memory quilts and the bird sculptures that attend next to them, reflecting on technology as a power for good, though sometimes seen as a replacement of tradition. Lately, she has been experimenting with adding lights and motion-activated sounds to her artwork. She is also learning and experimenting with soft circuits and longarm machine quilting. In her first solo exhibition, Fiber Art Avian Rhapsody, Whitmer explores the theme of birds specifically, exhibiting a large number of bird sculptures, studied, and built in collaboration with her laser cutter. For her, birds represent beauty, serenity, hope, kinship, freedom and escape. She crafted her first bird in 2015, and her flock has been growing ever since. Including her memory quilts and costumes, birds have been the inspiration for each piece in this exhibit, allowing Whitmer to stand back and ponder their overall inspiration to her practice. Serap lives east of Seattle with her husband, daughters, cats, and two real birds |
Second Floor
Quilts Japan: The 16th Quilt Nihon
Various Artists July 10 - October 13, 2024 The Quilt Nihon (Japan) Exhibition is an international exhibition sponsored by the Japan Handicraft Instructors' Association (JHIA) which is supported by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. It is the biggest quilting contest in Japan and was conceived to promote patchwork and quilting. It has been held biannually since 1989. Since the 5th Exhibition, it has become an international contest and one of the most prestigious. The 15th competition drew 347 quilt entries from ten countries. Judging took place in July of 2019, and 81 quilts in both traditional and contemporary categories were awarded prizes, from Honorary Mention to Gold Award. This traveling exhibition features 36 of these stunning quilts. The history of JHIA starts in 1964, when Tadanobu Seto founded the Vogue Handicraft Consulting Association. In order to perpetuate the handcraft culture in Japan, it was essential to educate highly-skilled craftspeople to teach. By 1969, the completion of instructor education was highly regarded, and it was accredited by the Minister of Education and Cultural Sports in Japan. That was the time when Vogue Handicraft Consulting Association changed its name to Japan Handicraft Instructors' Association. Forty-nine years have passed since then, and JHIA continues to educate instructors, and promote handicraft activities. Currently, the number of instructors is over 12,000, consisting of eight specialized divisions: Knitting, embroidery, lace, patchwork quilt, painting, hand weaving, leather craft, and flower art. 6,000 of these members are quilters. This exhibit is the Museum’s 13th biennial Japanese quilt exhibit, continuing a treasured tradition and partnership of 27 years begun in 1998 by Miwako Kimura and Ako Shimozato. |
Third Floor
WORD QUILTS
Janine Holzman May 8 - July 28, 2024 "When I was growing up my dad showed me this amazing way to write. The word was there but it wasn’t the first thing you saw." says Janine Holzman. In 2019, Holzman wanted to loosen up her quilting and thought to use her dad’s technique of obscuring the word as a starting point. MEMA, my grandma name, was the first. The background or negative space became the focal point. The actual word in the red fabric became the background. This idea had promise! Holzman was having fun piecing with her mostly thrift shop recycled clothing. She even pulled out her rarely used solids to make IT. The COVID-19 pandemic turned out to be an exhilarating time creatively for Janine, being given the chance to be in her sewing room guilt free, with a fabric closet stocked. Her sewing machine, Racheal, became her best friend. During that year from March, 2020, to March, 2021, Janine made 30 Word Quilts. The quilts in this collection were all made in the last four years. They are all original designs, pieced or turned-edge appliquéd and machine quilted. Janine Holzman started her quilting life with a series. During 7th grade Christmas vacation, she pieced three twin bed quilts with squares from her mom’s scrap bag. She was the nerdy girl who went home from high school in the 60’s to work on her quilting. In 1983, Holzman was asked to teach quilting at the community college in Sitka, Alaska (and later, for the University of Alaska’s art department). That year, on Mother’s Day, she organized the first Sitka quilt show. Now, forty years later, and named for the guild she formed with several of her students, the Ocean Wave Quilters Guild Show is still happening. A frequent contributor to Quilters Newsletter magazine, Janine had 6 covers. She has always had a quilt going, even while deck handing for her husband, fishing commercially for salmon, halibut, and black cod, or in the off season, rehabbing their old house. When COVID happened and there was no getting on the boat or shopping for lumber, the pandemic turned out to be the most prolific, creative quilting time of her life. |