Quilt c. 1936

This beautiful drawing of a quilt was made by Grace Halpin, sometime between 1855 and 1995. The blocks of color here are layered up like clumsy slabs of paint. I find myself thinking about the choices an artist makes when trying to represent something so tactile, as this artwork does. The artist emphasizes the material aspect of the quilt through a kind of graphic shorthand; little hatches to indicate the weave of the fabric, a dark outline around each patch. Look closely at the different blocks and the texture of the patterns within the quilt. Notice the areas of red plaid and the blue textile which borders the lower block. These marks give the work a certain energy and shape our emotional experience of it. I'm reminded of the work of Ree Morton and her use of familiar, homespun materials to create surreal and playful sculpture. Halpin, like Morton, invites us to see artmaking as an ongoing conversation, where ambiguity and personal expression triumph.