Articles Quilt making is as much of an art form as painting The following article was written by Effie Galletly and published in The Guardian in England on 22nd August 2007, in response to an article by Germaine Greer, who was commenting on what she called the 'heroic pointlessness' of patchwork. Germaine Gree is right about one thing: 'It is really very difficult to make pictures out of scraps of printed cloth.' (Making pictures from strips of cloth isn't art at all - but it mocks art's pretensions to the core, G2 August 13.) I spend rather a lot of time doing it, with serious intent, my intellect fully engaged for most of the time - and when it is not so I have the total ability to take in anything Radio 3 or 4 can throw at me. I have been called a landscape artist. These words are taken from the brochure of work I use to let people know what I am doing: 'My medium is the quilt - traditionally a cuddly, comforting household item - used in my work to express rock, sea, building, metal, air, field, beach and sky. This is my challenge: to make believeable the hard surfaces, elements and energies of the landscape using the soft limited qualities of fabric and stitch.' I exhibit regularly, talk about my work, teach techniques, and sell. So far I have had no buyers worry thet the work they have purchased is 'bound to fade and rot', as Greer puts it. Indeed, this has never even been mentioned. I guess they reckoned they wanted a piece now, for as long as it would last. My work is not made from 'bits of old fabric' or recycled clothes. Kept out of direct sunlight, a work could very well outlive the purchaser - just like a good watercolour or oil painting. My drawers are not full of fabric work 'kept in between layers of tissue paper and shut away from sight'. My work is out and ready to be viewed and sold. Greer says 'the work of art is supposed to defy time'. Is the quality of art determined by how long it can be made to last physically? The art made when a singer performs is there for a moment in the air and then forever out in space to be heard no more. The installation that is of the moment can have an intellectual power that stays in the mind when the action has long gone. The human heart and brain and their appreciaton of art are what matter here. I want the passion that I feel for my subject to touch the heart and mind of the viewer. Of course this quality of durability is an element that those who work with textiles know well. Please don't confuse the things made by many women for friends and family - that have those values of love, thoughtfulness and a good deal of skill - with the serious work of artists in the field. Greer asks why,'as long ago as 1771' a Mrs Delaney 'was spending hours of concentration making effigies of flowers out of bits of coloured paper mounted on black card' instead of 'just' painting them. I wonder how many painters would appreciate that comment. It may be that paint wasn't her medium. I sketch and research around my subject. I paint too, but I'm not really very good at it. Making pictures with fabric is my forte. I am very good at it, and am not in the least shy of saying so. Effie Galletly 2007 |