Conceptual Art Challenge

I just got back from the October FANE meeting, the rain is drumming on the roof, and I am ready to put on my PJs and put on "Project Runway" while I blog about the meeting and show you my latest creation. Above is the entire piece which is roughly 18"x18". I'm not sure that it actually qualifies as Conceptual Art, since it really is a piece of art, but I like the way it looks. Since the concept we were trying to get across was art quilting, I ended up making an art quilt! (What else?) We had to make a statement about our pieces (I don't really like explaining what I've made - if you don't get it by looking at it, then it's not a successful piece!), so I'll give you a synopsis of what I said. To me, an art quilt essentially has texture, color, and layering. It is a form of self expression by the artist, and somehow expresses a sense of joy or fun in the creative process. I basically went through my fabric stash and picked out swatches of some of my favorite colors and textures. I ended up using close to 50 different fabrics ranging in texture from burlap to silk. I de-emphasized shape by sticking to squares and rectangles, so the textures and colors were the focus.

Embellishments are some of the most fun elements of art quilts, so I had to include some. I used buttons, rick-rack, safety pins, beads, copper foil, copper mesh, and various natural found objects. Even though the piece is very abstract, some of the colors and textures reminded me of elements of nature, like water, sky, trees, and seasons.

The meeting tonight was really great - it was a struggle for all of us to grasp Conceptual art and try to come up with something of our own, but all the pieces were meaningful, fun, interesting, and exciting. Visit the FANE blog in the next few weeks to see what everyone else did and read their statements.

Now, who's going to Bryant Park on Project Runway?!?!

(I predict Mondo, Michael, and Andy).