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| "Night Flight no. 2" 58x57" WxH |
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| "Night Flight no. 3" 75x57 WxH |
At a very young
age my mother showed me Georgia O’Keefe’s cloud paintings, and I was then
hypnotized by the window every time I flew.
By the fourth grade I was flying solo to visit my grandmother in New
Mexico and sketching the crops and patterns on the Earth in a self-made sketchbook. While I grew up loving flight,
there are a significant number of people who fear it. This intense, visceral reaction to flight is
part of the power of the series.
In the winter of
2014 I pieced ‘Night Flight no. 1,’ while preparing for a January trip to
Seoul, South Korea to see my college roommate, whom I hadn’t seen in a
decade. In November I’d flown from my home
in Chicago to Florida to visit my mother, and I’d filmed many of the views from
the sky. 'Night Flight no. 1' represents that
moment of flying over an unknown city, while looking out the window of the
plane. ‘Night Flight no. 2’ depicts a
moment much closer to the Earth, when preparing to land in an urban setting- I
was inspired by a photo I took of Chicago, but it could be anywhere.
In both quilts I used a Seminole Patchwork
technique to create a grid affect for the lights. It was by far, the most
efficient and appropriate technique to use.
It is an interesting choice symbolically: the Seminole Indians originally
lived in Florida, but in the 1840’s they were forcibly moved West of the
Mississippi, mostly to Oklahoma. About
200 Seminoles remained in Florida, and they have since had many lawsuits over
land and have had a continued presence in Florida. In the 1920’s they were introduced to the
sewing machine in Florida, and that is when they invented the Seminole Patchwork
technique, because of its efficiency for pattern making with the sewing
machine. This history amplifies the
transient nature of maps, countries, and clusters of human population.
My hope is that
the work allows the viewer to contemplate place, the nature of a map, and the
way a map differs from the actual sight of that same location when seeing it
from above. We draw visible lines in the
Earth all the time with roads, and draw invisible lines on the Earth with maps
and latitude/longitude lines. It is only
very recently that the Earth has begun to glow at night. Just 200 years ago, without the light from
homes and roads, the scene would have been very dark.
I like that the
images depicted are beautiful, and fill me with awe. I like that they depict scenes that are ever
changing. This reminds me of reading
Proust, that we experience many selves in a lifetime, and even in a day. Chicago is named the second city because the
first was burnt down in a fire. Between
2005 and 2015 I have witnessed countless changes in Chicago- it is a new city
every day. How does that idea show up in
my art? I piece improvisationally. This
means that I don’t use a grid, specific plan, or even stick to a particular
source image. I sew areas of patchwork
together and then pin them to my design wall.
I arrange the pieces together as I go.
I studied Jazz and Blues Aesthetics at SAIC, and I’ve researched a great
deal about African American Quilting. I
see the evolution of cites, and the geography of the planet as an
improvisational patchwork as well- we are constantly co-creating the way our
world looks from above.
One of my
favorite qualities of quilting is that the resulting image is layered. The fabric, piecing of the fabric, and
quilting each tell a story. It creates
the opportunity tell many stories, and show a complex image to the viewer. I quilt using Japanese Sashiko style stitches. I use the technique because the large
stitches can be seen. The traditional
Western stitch is ideally so small and regular that it looks ‘as good as if a
machine did it.’ I prefer the Japanese
aesthetic of wabi-sabi. The perfect
mistake. Sashiko quilting is sill
usually very regular, organized, and they draw a template on the fabric to
follow. I also quilt improvisationally,
meaning that I sew without lines to follow, and allow myself to create the quilted
pattern in the moment.
The night flight
series is my only exception to that. I
use tape to follow as I quilt so that I maintain horizontal lines across the
surface. These lines represent latitude,
an invisible set of lines that we have drawn on the Earth to aid in
navigation. Still, they waver in places-
it is a nod to the hand, and like a bit of occasional static in a television
screen- a reminder that they are invisible.
The fabric is
another key element for creating meaning in the work. In #2 I found three dye lots of the same navy
blue fabric. These three subtle
variations work together to create complexity in the large expanses of
darkness- they activate the negative space.
In #3 I used black fabric instead of navy. When composing the lights, I included fabric from two vintage dresses, likely from the 40’s. I purchased them in the early 2000’s and used
to wear them for special occasions. In
other quilts like ‘Beginners,’ ‘Lots of Cream, Lots of Sugar,’ and ‘Flower
Fence,’ I have used vintage tablecloths.
The sourcing of fabrics and the inherent conversation about the
transformation over time are important to me in the work, especially as it
relates to the Earth itself changing over the same time period.
Flight has
become a highly structured, rigid, fearful, controlled experience in our post-
9/11 world. That is not at the forefront
of my mind with this work. It is much
more about the joy of flight, and the constant fluctuation of the Earth’s
surface. I am interested that this art
might spark conversations about topics like flight control, immigration, border
control, light pollution, electricity, and globalization- but it is not at the
core of the work. Similarly, I titled
the series after the ‘Night Flight’ novely by Antoine de Saint-Exupery because
of the joy he expresses for flight.
While there is a connection to WWII, and his death at sea, it is not my
primary focus. In an age where flying can be a hassle, this series looks to reinvigorate that experience as a reminder of the wonder and excitement inherent in flight.
Many people who fear flying do so because of the lack of control. This work is about a lack of control,
impermanence, co-creation, living in the moment, and my enjoyment of those
things. When Lisa Walker England wrote
about me in her blog recently, she cited ‘freedom’ as a guiding element in my
personality and my art. I do feel free
flying, I think it’s absolute magic that I can literally be in the clouds for a
while, and then land in ‘another world’ in a days time. Our planet, and life itself are anything but static or predictable. The improvisational approach in this series is a nod to the ever-changing qualities of the Earth’s surface.
Night Flight no. 1 and 2 are currently on view in the Charles Allis Art Museum in Milwaukee as a part of the "Threshold" exhibition curated by Niki Johnson.
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| "Night Flight no. 4" 34x48" |
