My mom and I just got back from the opening of Quilt National 15 at the
Dairy Barn Arts Center in Athens OH, and it was a really wonderful trip for so many reasons. Later in the week I'll share some more pictures of the opening and our trip, but today I want to focus on the piece I have in the show. I'm so excited to have been a part of such a wonderful exhibit and so happy to finally be able to share my piece here. The entries were due last September, so I was actually working on this last summer. In my brain it feels like old work, and I've been really anxious to share it. One of the best parts of the opening was that each artist was given two minutes to speak about his or her piece, and I think the recordings/videos from that are going to be on youtube. If they get posted I'll share the links.
This piece had been brewing in my head for a long time, and I was pleased to finally be able to make it. I talked about the process a fair amount
here, and I mostly just want to share the final pictures now.
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| Peering Out of the Darkness, Shannon Conley, 2015 50" H x 42" W |
Artist Statement: This wintry night scene is designed to capture the relationship between us, standing alone in the darkness, and the piercing lightness of the world outside.
I wanted to explore the ideas of ambiguousness and of taking away, of suggesting. The feelings of the woman staring out the window are up to you- is she hopeful? Sad? Desperate? Inspired? I wanted her expression to be sufficiently unclear that the interpretation reflected the feelings and situation of the viewer rather than the artist.
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| Peering Out of the Darkness, Shannon Conley, 2015, detail |
The piece started from completely white fabric which was painted (with all different colors of mostly latex housepaint, but also screen printing paint and shiva paintsticks), cut, and quilted. For me, the dual shadows--those projected within the piece, (i.e.in the bottom section) and those projected behind the piece (i.e. when it is hung away from the wall) are a critical part of the composition. I was really pleased with the way it was hung in the Dairy Barn and will show some more pictures of it hanging later in the week.
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| Peering Out of the Darkness, Shannon Conley, 2015, detail |
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| Peering Out of the Darkness, Shannon Conley, 2015, detail |
There are many thread colors throughout the piece, including incorporation of metallic threads, so that from afar it looks very grey and muted but up close there is lots of variation.
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| Peering Out of the Darkness, Shannon Conley, 2015, detail |
I'm linking up to
Nina-Marie's as always!
Very nice work Shannon
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that we finally get to see it. It is exquisite!
ReplyDeleteSTUNNING! I am in love with it!! Great inspiration and implementation in the making. So good. I know you're proud to have it in this prestigious exhibit. That's a dream of mine. LeeAnna at not afraid of color
ReplyDeleteWOW - I am left off the air. This is such a crazy work .... my respect!
ReplyDeleteBest Regards
Barbara
I love the multiple layers look, that the cutout and quilting added to it. The colors are so subtle.
ReplyDeleteOMG! This piece is wonderful! The layers, the cutout - the quilting is perfect for it. Well done ! I take my quilters hat off to you :-) I'll bet a lot people are going to stop and ooooh and aaaaah over this one :-)
ReplyDeleteShannon: This is incredible. I am in awe, truly, just amazing work. I did not know you got into Quilt National. this is so well deserved. and how special that you and your mom went up there. I definitely want to see more pictures!! How did you cut away the open sections?Any special tips?
ReplyDeleteCongrats! Can't wait to see it in person when we go to the show this summer.
ReplyDeleteCreative and original - well done Shannon!
ReplyDelete