Review

A review of Quilts: Flora Botanica

Review magazine's September print edition features a review of Inspiration and Interpretation, two related exhibitions — quilts from the collection of Maude Wahlman and quilts made by artist Sun Smith-Foret — at the Belger Arts Center through October 3. This companion online review is by the same author, who was inspired by the depth that quilt art presents and went to another exhibition on view this season.

Mary Ann Seeling Kile Elliot, United States, 1831-1915 Princess Feather quilt, circa 1870-1890 cotton appliquéd. Spencer Museum of Art, The University of Kansas. Gift of Barbara Kile Zernickow, 1986.0243

by Steve Brisendine

Long before “Say it with Flowers” became an ad mantra, it was a philosophy for quilters. The list is as long as a “When I was your age …” story — everything from lilacs for the awakening of love to sweet pea for “Thanks, I had a lovely time. B’bye now.”

That symbolism comes to light in Quilts: Flora Botanica, on display through October 12 in the Kress Gallery of the University of Kansas’ Spencer Museum of Art.

Much of the exhibition conveys a sense of symmetry, hominess, and timelessness.

The first quality is inherent in the stitching and patterns of such offerings as Sugar Bowl or Basket Quilt, made in the 1850s or 1860s by Margaret Cane of Ohio. The second is brought home by the stains on several of the quilts. This art was put to use.

The third is accented by the presence of small-scale interpretations of some of the 19th-century pieces. The new pieces were stitched and pieced in 2007 by area quilters and selected for Flora Botanica by Barbara Brackman, the Spencer’s honorary curator of quilts.

The exhibition also contains several crazy quilts, a dazzling millefleure quilt made in 1989 by Virginia Randles, and a haunting pictorial quilt, made in England sometime between 1740 and 1810, in which paper human figures overlaid with cloth tell a story of life, love, and war.

Many of the figures have since disintegrated, but the tale remains.

STITCHING ON A SMALL SCALE:

The work of Kansas City quilt artist Jill Harmon is full of emotional warmth, even if it will not keep out much of a chill.

Harmon, who recently wrapped up a show at the Kaw Valley Arts & Humanities Gallery in Kansas City, Kansas, works largely in 18" x 24" or 27" x 72" dimensions.

“I like to do long pieces,” says Harmon, who also prefers to use hand-dyed fabrics in her creations.

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