Peering Out of the Darkness: Quilt National 2015

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.

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.

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.

Peering Out of the Darkness, Shannon Conley, 2015, detail

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.

Peering Out of the Darkness, Shannon Conley, 2015, detail

I'm linking up to Nina-Marie's as always!