Living Language Land: Part 2

 Earlier this week I shared about the first quilt I made for our Living Language Land inspired quilt show.  My second piece also used the topography approach and in fact re-used one section of the pattern from my
based on the USGS topo maps of the mountains where I grew up in southern New Mexico.  

The word I picked was Tuuca Orodji

From the Living Language Land website:

• Language: Khwedam
• Region: Northeastern Namibia
• Contributor: ǂGakaci Thaddeus Chedau, Mbo

Rainwater pan

When I think of collecting rainwater, I think of all the little creeks in each canyon of our mountains.  They only run for just a few months out of the year: when the summer monsoons come and in the spring when there is runoff from the snow melt.  I remember having such a good time playing in the creeks on the rare occasions they had water.  The section of topo map I chose features the canyon through which north Eagle Creek flows.

Here are some in-progress pictures as I cut out the pieces on my silhouette and layed them out for painting.

And here is in progress with the layering.  Each layer is separated by a plastic pony bead to give depth.

Here's the finished piece with artist statement below.

North Eagle Creek, 24x12, c. 2024, Shannon Conley

I'm interested in how the processes of layering and then taking away can create dimension and shape. Layer after layer is peeled away to expose what's underneath: organic openings that shift in shape, color, and depth. This piece began with hand painted cloth and a machine quilted base, and then are layered and/or cut away, and anchored with hand stitching. Each layer corresponds to a 160ft topo line from a USGS map of the White Mountain Wilderness in southern New Mexico. This region of New Mexico continues getting drier and drier, with endemic forest fires and water collecting in canyon bottoms for only a few short weeks each spring.

Our goal as show organizers was to have at least two quilts for each word, and at the end of the call for entry period we still had a few words left.  In looking through them, it occurred to me that one of them, Itrofillmongen, would fit fairly well with a small 12x12 quilt I made in 2015 and still had.  

The quilt was made as part of a small series featuring a lady (me actually) looking out a window.  The point of the series was to capture the ambiguity of poster and expression, and let the viewer imagine what was occurring.  That seemed to fit well with 

Itrofillmongen

from the Living Language Land website:

Language: Mapudungun

Region: Lake Budi, Mapuche Territory, Chile

Contributor: Fernando Quilaqueo, Environmental Association Budi Anumka

The tangible and intangible elements of the diversity of life

Centering, 12x12, c. 2015, Shannon Conley

Artist statement: This piece was inspired by the relationship between us, standing alone in the darkness, and the piercing lightness of the world outside.

I'm looking forward to seeing the Living Language Land exhibit all together, I think it's a very interesting idea.

Living Language Land: Part 1

Our SAQA KS/MO/OK region is doing an exhibition inspired by the Living, Language, Land project.  The project is focused on conservation through the lens of endangered and minority languages, and the idea that different languages illustrate different ways of interacting with the land.  One of their goals is to inspire others to bring the 26 words selected from minority and endangered languages to life in their creative practice.  Our SAQA region has invited its members to make one or more small (12x12 or 12x24) art quilts based on these words, not appropriating imagery or symbols from the cultures where the words originate, but reflecting on how these words can relate to our own connections with the land.

I initially picked two words to make quilts on.  I decided do use the layered topography approach I originally explored back about 8 years ago, largely because I had signed up to teach that technique on Quilting Arts TV this summer.  That was a great trip, perhaps at some point I'll get a post up on that, but the two Living Language Land quilts were both illustrations for that segment.

My first word was Maloka.  

From the Living Language Land website:

• Language: Murui (Uitoto)
• Region: Amazon region, Colombia
• Contributor: Emperatriz López of the Murui Muina people

Ancestral longhouse

I decided to do an abstracted piece inspired by the shape and form of long houses, with geometric layers building up.  Layers like this have felt like "home" to me in quilting for a long time now.  

This was my quilted background.

These are some of the layered pieces after cutting and during painting.

And here are all the original layered pieces.  I decided the bright greents and yellows were too bright, so in the end, I just went with the under layers.

This is the final piece,  it actually wound up feeling more like a banner than a house, but that resonates with me too, think about family symbols and things like that.

Homecoming, 24x12, c.2024, Shannon Conley

The artist statement on the piece says:

Meditating on the idea of a traditional long house I kept coming back to the plain simple shapes used as little kids to draw houses. Houses turn out to be much more complex than that, but home doesn't have to be. My hope is that we can foster societies where home is a safe and loving place for everyone.