Shadow: Insight © Karen Thiessen, 2006 |
In its previous life, Shadow: Insight was called Fog/Denial. I made it while I was a NSCAD student. At the time I was trying to change how I used colour and with this quilt I eliminated dark colours from my palette and once I pieced the top, I hand-quilted the whole thing... and it didn't work. Not at all. This large double-sized hand-quilted quilt was a dud, a complete failure.
Fog/Denial © Karen Thiessen, 1998 |
I've written about problem children (failed artworks) before. I still believe that they are necessary for any long-term studio practice to evolve. Problem children push me to reinvent them, to problem-solve, to consider solutions outside my regular way of working. This year I look forward to reinventing a few quilts that don't meet my standards.
This story and the quilt that goes with are very nurturing.
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I just went to your website and saw the shadow series there. Love the phrase "difficult beauty" in your artist statement.
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