Category: Portfolio of Art Quilts/Mixed Media Textiles

TEXTILE & MIXED MEDIA WORKS
All works are shipped ready to hang. Satisfaction is guaranteed, with a full refund, less shipping costs, if returned within one week of receipt. For information on availability of existing works and current prices or to discuss site specific commissions for corporate, healthcare, public and/or residential interiors please contact the artist at mary@maryvaneecke.com.

Where Do We Go From Here?/Two Boyfriends

Posted on December 21, 2023August 2, 2024 by Mary Vaneecke

“Where do we go from here? I/Two Boyfriends” by Mary Vaneecke, 2023, 36” by 20”

“Where do we go from here? I/Two Boyfriends,” detail

I am ending 2023 with the first piece in a new series, “Where do we go from here?”. I feel I am at a crossroads (and our country is, too). I’m wrapping up a huge multi-year project (have you heard of it?)… supporting loved ones with serious medical issues… grieving my parents and the sense of mortality that comes with that loss.

No, I don’t have 2 actual boyfriends. The first class I took with Jane Dunnewold was about applying color, line, and shapes to plain fabric. She warned us that some of us would come to her with our ‘boyfriends’–fabrics we had created and loved so much that we wouldn’t want to change them. I have been hanging on to these boyfriends for years, wondering what in the heck to do with them. Here I have appliquéd a sheer silk organza boyfriend onto a Fuji silk broadcloth that was dyed using a Katano shibori method. Hand stitched with single strand embroidery thread (this was really tough on my hands and I won’t be able to handwork an overall design again any time soon).

I kinda like the new guy. What do you think?

You can see the work at Agua Caliente Park in Tucson. Show details below. I am looking forward to a productive and art-filled 2024 with some new friends and exciting challenges. What is on your calendar?

Who Are You Wearing?

Posted on March 27, 2023 by Mary Vaneecke

I created this in response to a call for art to the members of Art Cloth Network by the Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts in Bethlehem, PA. The show’s theme is “Luxury and Industry.”

I was able to research the silk industry in America (yes, really!), the role of women and child laborers, and union organizing by the mighty Mother Jones. Online searches for images of ‘child labor textile industry’ revealed nearly identical photos, taken a hundred years apart in the US (then) and overseas (now).

That got me thinking….

As I made the piece, news organizations reported on the use of immigrant children who are applying for official status in the US in dangerous working conditions. And the loosening by states of child labor protection laws.

Everything old is new again.

“Who Are You Wearing?” by Mary Vaneecke, 24″ x 24″ 2023

detail, “Who Are You Wearing?” by Mary Vaneecke

Materials: Vintage unfinished crazy quilt block, layered with vintage kimono scraps, hand-printed ribbon, collaged photographs printed on silk organza, antique glass buttons. Hand and machine stitch.

The Mourning Project: One Day II

Posted on September 21, 2020October 9, 2023 by Mary Vaneecke

This 24 x 48” version of The Mourning Project: One Day features 63 pairs of handmade baby booties, one little elegy for each child lost before their first birthday every day in the US. It is a tiny portion of the 20,000 pairs we are collecting from makers all over the world to draw attention to the infant mortality rate in this country.

This version of the project will be at the Norfolk D’Art Center in Norfolk, VA for their Materials II exhibition, from October 10th, 2020-November 7th, 2020. Opening reception is Thursday, October 15 from 5:30-7:30 pm. The awards will be announced on Facebook Live, so stay tuned!

TMP makers–do you see your booties below? If not, check out the online installation by clicking here. Thank you to all who have contributed to save the lives of our most vulnerable citizens. Join us by submitting your booties today.

The Mourning Project: One Day II, detail 1

The Mourning Project: One Day II, detail 2

Unravelling: The Case for Reparations

Posted on September 15, 2020 by Mary Vaneecke

This piece was completed just in time for the call for submissions to the We Are the Story exhibition at the Textile Center in Minneapolis, MN. I was thrilled that Unravelling is part of the Racism: In the Face of Hate, We Resist portion of the show. The exhibit is curated by Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi and is getting a lot of buzz.

The quote is by William Faulkner, one of our greatest writers, and one of the first sons of the American South to feature relationships between black and white characters in his fiction. As flawed as Faulkner was on issues of race, his words very succinctly describe why we must work today to make amends for the systemic racism in our country today. For an ‘antiracist reading list,’ click here.

Materials: flags, woven and whitewashed, fusible web, hand-painted non-woven, felt, cotton backing, thread.

*Unravelling: The Case for Reparations,* by Mary Vaneecke, 2020, 41” x 37”

UnRavelling is a sister quilt to (White) Silence is Violence), which is also in the show. This piece was made in 2018 and is now in a private collection.

(White) Silence is Violence, by Mary Vaneecke 2018

The Weight of Water II

Posted on May 18, 2020 by Mary Vaneecke

Another interpretation of the slings used by migrants crossing the border to carry water. This version incorporates found used clothing and a deconstructed American flag, layered with printed silk organza and hand stitching. Includes one carpet shoe found at the border. Printed text is from newspaper headlines about the Trump administration’s detention centers.

Techniques: hand- embroidery, hand-applique, printing, machine stitch.

Little Elegies, first installation of The Mourning Project

Posted on May 26, 2019October 9, 2023 by Mary Vaneecke

The Mourning Project is a huge community fiber art project to collect 20,000 handmade baby booties, one for each American infant who dies before her first birthday every year. The US has the worst infant mortality rate in the developed world. This project seeks to educate the makers and viewers about the issue, and start a discussion on how we can address this as a country.

The YWCA of Southern Arizona hosted the first installation of The Mourning Project, Little Elegies, April 2019 in Tucson. By this time makers contribute over 3,000 pairs of handmade baby shoes. These are some images of the first exhibition. Future installations will vary by venue as more makers donate booties.

A rare view of the full installation with clouds (3,000 pairs of booties).

View of the first installation of The Mourning Project, at dusk.

This shot shows the bootie count as of Thursday evening. At takedown, it was 3,223.

detail of the the altar cloth, which is a collage of vintage hand-worked linens, over-dyed and stitched boro style.

first installation of The Mourning Project, detail

Attendees with signage from the installation. Signs educate viewers on the varied causes of infant mortality, and the solutions shown to address each cause.

The Weight of Water

Posted on June 6, 2018September 3, 2018 by Mary Vaneecke

The Weight of Water by Mary Vaneecke, 20” x 20” by 12”

Artist Statement

When I attended a photo shoot for The Migrant Quilt Project I was struck by the fabric slings for water bottles that Jody Ipsen brought from campsites along the border. Jody is the founder of the MQP. Crossers or their loved ones or immigrants rights groups make these slings hastily. They sometimes include encouraging messages like bueno suerte (good luck) or contigo en la distancia (with you on your journey). It hit me how these migrants had to carry enough water with them to survive their journey. They had to decide what to carry with them across the border, and what to leave behind on their way to a new life.

The items left at campsites or layups tell of a journey fraught with peril and loss. Jody allowed me to photocopy pages from a book for prayers to Santa Muerte, or Saint Death. Santa Muerte is important because she can protect crossers from violent death. Jody also shared copies from a small notebook filled with handwritten poetry or Verzos. (One of those poems is for Mother on Mother’s Day.) Ten dollars worth of pesos secreted into hand-stitched hems is another frequent find. Migrants often carry milagros or votives with them. Empty gallon jugs and carpet shoes, which mask footprints when worn over street shoes, are common in layup sites along the border.

My version of these slings include headlines from American newspapers about the official policies dealing with migrants, as well as reproductions from prayer and poetry books found on the border.

Materials

Found objects (water bottles and carpet shoes), deconstructed American flag and denim jeans, vintage mola (maker unknown), milagros, woven textiles from South and Central America (makers unknown), silk organza, cotton, vintage Mexican flag collectible, Virgin de Guadelupe fabric, facsimiles of found objects, fusible web.

Techniques

Machine and hand stitch, image transfer, fusing, applique.

New Work: Back to ‘Mending’

Posted on January 31, 2018May 2, 2023 by Mary Vaneecke

New Work: Back to ‘Mending’

Yet another new work inspired by Hazel Hall’s poem, “Mending.” Full text of the poem is here. Written about 100 years ago (Hall died in 1924), it is the gift that keeps on giving! Hall describes a mundane household chore as a subversive act, ‘a little travesty on life.’ It just seems to fit our zeitgeist, doesn’t it?

This piece combines several of the techniques I have used in the last year: layered sheers, cutting, burning, and visible mending. It feels radical to me, but still beautiful. Similar to Haiku III, but dimensional instead of fused flat. Best of all, I have ideas for several more pieces in this style.

Stay tuned.

Yes, I have been Mending III, 40'' x 30'' by Mary Vaneecke — *Yes, I have been Mending III,* 40” x 30” by Mary Vaneecke–in a private collection

*Yes, I have been Mending III* by Mary Vaneecke, detail.

Materials

Fabric, dyes, fusible web.

Techniques

Fusing, dyeing, burning, machine stitch, cut work.

photo credit: Jack Kulawik

(White) Silence is Violence

Posted on January 9, 2018September 15, 2019 by Mary Vaneecke

While this work is a modern quilt with a contemporary theme, it stands firmly in the tradition of subversive stitching in quilts.

When officers of the law become judge, jury, and executioners, killing unarmed black citizens, we all have a problem. The police act on our behalf. This slogan from the Black Lives Matter movement challenges our complicity in the face of these injustices. It demands our attention. We must find a way to hold our police officers close, and still hold them accountable. This piece is included in the Studio Art Quilt Associates Loaded Conversations exhibition.

The work is silk dupion, hand-painted fabrics, layered and stitched. Embellished with hand-painted, frayed twine.

letters on white quilted silk — (White) Silence is Violence, by Mary Vaneecke

text on densely quilted white sillk — detail, (White) Silence is Violence by Mary Vaneecke

‘Desconocidos,’ for The Migrant Quilt Project

Posted on May 25, 2017May 3, 2019 by Mary Vaneecke

Desconocidos, Tucson Sector, 2015-2016, 94” x 61” by Mary Vaneecke, 2017.

About the Work

This piece was commissioned by The Migrant Quilt Project to honor and call attention to those who died crossing the border in the 2015-2016 fiscal year. It is made in part with clothing discarded at the border by migrants. The Project commissions a quilt each year, and the quilt must have the names of those whose have died while crossing, or, in the case of unidentified bodies, the word desconocido (unknown or stranger in Spanish). It was an honor to make this piece with Julia Moore, a high school intern who worked with me this winter. TMQP has received a grant for travelling exhibitions of these quilts beyond Tucson. Watch my blog for the next venue.

At the corner of East 15th Street and Kino Blvd. in Tucson is a monumental equestrian statue of Fr. Eusebio Francisco Kino. He was the first European to come to the area. He is, in a sense, our first border crosser. The statue (by Julian Martinez) looms large above the intersection and for years, I confess, I have wanted to quilt bomb it with an immigration theme. I am not sure how that is possible without access to a cherry picker. Not so subtle! I made a transparent silhouette of the statue to incorporate into this piece. The quilt also features a Virgin of Guadalupe, a marijuana-themed bandanna, and 400 pesos (which I found secreted into the hems of two pairs of jeans). Money and drug cartels frequently prompt these attempted crossings.

The Numbers

The numbers for Desconocidos The Migrant Quilt Project this year? One hundred forty-four deaths. The identified are aged 18-51 years. Ten women, 128 men, 6 unknown. Three are teenagers.

Techniques and Materials

Materials: fusing, clothing, synthetic sheers, thread, canvas, felt.

Techniques: Burning, machine quilting, fusing, embellishing, image transfer.

Desconocidos by Mary Vaneecke, detail showing fabric that has been partially burned away

Yes, I have been Mending II (A Little Travesty)

Posted on April 25, 2017May 2, 2023 by Mary Vaneecke

Hazel Hall’s poem ‘Mending’ reveals mending as a subversive act, an act of defiance, ‘a little travesty.’ Those who disagree with the current administration must put aside our shock and grief at the loss for what we thought America was, and fight for American ideals, to mend what is broken in this country.

Those who work in textiles have a long history of political activism. Like Betsy Ross. Or Madame Defarge. Watch Threads of Resistance for many political art quilts, or little travesties.

Yes, I have been Mending II, 32 x 33.5” 2017

The full text of the poem is here:

Mending

Hazel Hall

Here are old things:
Fraying edges,
Ravelling threads;
And here are scraps of new goods,
Needles and thread,
An expectant thimble,
A pair of silver-toothed scissors.
Thimble on a finger,
New thread through an eye;
Needle, do not linger,
Hurry as you ply.
If you ever would be through
Hurry, scurry, fly!
Here are patches,
Felled edges,
Darned threads,
Strengthening old utility,
Pending the coming of the new.
Yes, I have been mending …
But also,
I have been enacting
A little travesty on life.

Yes, I Have Been Mending

Posted on October 11, 2016September 3, 2018 by Mary Vaneecke

My latest art quilt, Yes, I Have Been Mending was inspired by 2 ideas. One is Hazel Hall’s poem, Mending. I recently discovered her poetry through Poets.org’s Poem-a-Day program. It is great to have a poem delivered to my in-box every day. I don’t always read it, but it is there! Hall used stitch imagery in several of her poems, so I was delighted to read her work.

The second idea that inspired me was the visible mending trend. It’s a lot like it sounds, but check out the link or Pinterest for some examples. ‘Yes, I Have Been Mending’ uses several gorgeous layers of hand-dyed silks, which I layered with eco-felt. And then I took an Exacto knife and sand paper to it to create holes. A bit of a travesty, but that is part of the poem! I then patched the red quilt with green thread and some more hand-dyed silks.

My favorite line in Mending is the last. The complete text of the poem is below:

Mending

Hazel Hall

'Yes, I Have Been Mending,' detail — ‘Yes, I Have Been Mending,’ detail

Haiku II

Posted on September 1, 2016May 2, 2023 by Mary Vaneecke

Haiku II is a visual interpretation of its namesake Japanese literary artform . Translucent silk fabrics were dyed using the Japanese shibori technique itajime, then layered with synthetic fabrics and machine stitched. Photography by Jack Kulawik.

But I could hardly name an art quilt Haiku and not write a poem for it, now could I? So here goes:

Haiku II

Take two images.

Separate and relate them.

It’s not so simple.

Winner of an Honorable Mention at the Studio Art Quilt Associates – Arizona Chapter 2017 exhibition, Exposures.

Haiku II, 2016 by Mary Vaneecke. 54.5'' x 41'' — Haiku II, 2016 by Mary Vaneecke. 54.5” x 41”

Haiku III

Posted on August 31, 2016May 2, 2023 by Mary Vaneecke

Haiku III

The silk remembers

The loom, the folds, the needle,

The thread, and the flame.

Shibori is a Japanese word for creating pattern on fabric. In the shibori process, many items can be used–folds, clamps, string, needle and thread. Haiku III is a visual interpretation of the poetic literary art form. Translucent silk fabrics were dyed using the itajime and machine-stitched Katano shibori. They were layered and machine stitched with burned raw edges. While the four complexly dyed fabrics relate to one another, each is beautiful in its own right. Photo by Jack Kulawik.

Haiku III, 2016 by Mary Vaneecke, 38'' x 46'' — Haiku III, 2016 by Mary Vaneecke, 38” x 46”

Haiku I

Posted on August 30, 2016September 3, 2018 by Mary Vaneecke

Haiku I became a study of sorts for a larger work (Haiku II) and launches a new series. Both feature hand-dyed sheer silk fabrics over-layed with synthetic sheers, and machine stitched. This allows for a fascinating interplay between colors, values, and repeating shapes. Haiku I is more intense, and reminds me of a Rorschach test, if you had double vision. The namesake poetry, and the dyeing technique, shibori, are both Japanese.

Of course, I had to write a haiku to celebrate this new series.

Haiku I

Two colors: red, black

Layered to affect the mood–

Simple yet complex.

Frozen in Time II

Posted on August 29, 2016September 3, 2018 by Mary Vaneecke

Frozen in Time II is a translucent art quilt that incorporates many hand-worked and underappreciated vintage crochet pieces layered between hand-dyed sheer fabrics. It hangs away from the wall to allow for shadow play behind the piece. Rust-dyed and machine stitched. This was included in the Visions Art Museum show, Iterpretations: Conversations exhibition. Photo by Jack Kulawik.

Frozen in Time II is perhaps an elegy for lost arts and loved ones.

Frozen in Time II, 50'' x 34'' by Mary Vaneecke — Frozen in Time II, 50” x 34” by Mary Vaneecke

Frozen in Time I

Posted on August 27, 2016August 28, 2016 by Mary Vaneecke

Frozen in Time I, with detail. (Photo by Jack Kulawik). This new art quilt combines new hand-dyed silk fabrics with vintage handworked crochet (makers unknown). Rust dyed, layered and stitched on eco-felt.

This piece continues a new series utilizing under-appreciated handwork of unknown makers.

Frozen in Time I by Mary Vaneecke. 43.5'' x 34.5'' 2016. — *Frozen in Time I* by Mary Vaneecke. 43.5” x 34.5” 2016.

Frozen in Time I by Mary Vaneecke detail — Frozen in Time I, detail. By Mary Vaneecke

Frozen in Time III

Posted on August 23, 2016September 3, 2018 by Mary Vaneecke

This art quilt, Frozen in Time III, is hand-dyed, rust-dyed silk fabrics, layered with vintage hand-worked textiles and stitched. 24” x 33”

Northern Lights

Posted on August 23, 2016September 3, 2018 by Mary Vaneecke

Northern Lights, a vintage linen napkin (maker unknown), has been painstakingly folded, stitched, and hand-dyed in a mandala-type design.

Northern Lights, by Mary Vaneecke. 18'' x 18'' Hand-dyed vintage linen napkin, layered and stitched. Stretched on a frame. — Northern Lights, by Mary Vaneecke. 18” x 18” Hand-dyed vintage linen napkin, layered and stitched. Stretched on a frame.

A Mind of Winter

Posted on May 17, 2016October 11, 2018 by Mary Vaneecke

A Mind of Winter

This small art quilt (12” x 12”) is my submission for the Studio Art Quilt Associates auction, which starts online in September. All proceeds go to SAQA, which works to promote the art quilt. SAQA supports what I do, so I like to reciprocate!

The small work is made of layered, sheer fabrics, including hand-dyed silk organzas and lace scraps from a wedding dress, layered on felt and commercial cotton fabric and machine stitched. The title comes from a Wallace Stevens poem, The Snowman. I think about the opening line of the poem–One must have a mind of winter–often as temperatures get into the 100s here at home. I grew up in Michigan, where winters are long, and I wonder about the Nothing that is not there, and the nothing that is. Makes you stop and think, doesn’t it?

I am considering making a larger version, so perhaps I will call this Mind of Winter I.

A Mind of Winter small art quilt — “A Mind of Winter” 12” x 12” 2016.

Below is the complete text of the poem.

The Snowman

One must have a mind of winter

To regard the frost and the boughs

Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time

To behold the junipers shagged with ice,

The spruces rough in the distant glitter

Of the January sun; and not to think

Of any misery in the sound of the wind,

In the sound of a few leaves,

Which is the sound of the land

Full of the same wind

That is blowing in the same bare place

For the listener, who listens in the snow,

And, nothing himself, beholds

Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

Abuela Reads the Headlines , 2015

Abuela is Spanish for grandmother. I imagine her in her barrio (neighborhood) garden in my hometown, Tucson, surrounded by an ocotillo (a living, cactus-type) fence. She has her handwork and the blessed Virgin of Guadalupe nearby, with a grandchild at her knee. Abuela scans the headlines about America’s current immigration policy, and weeps.

Materials: vintage handworked textiles (makers unknown), felted wool, embellishing (480 jewelry spikes), cotton and cotton-silk fabric, dyeing, discharging, silk sari ‘yarn,’ window screen, acrylic felt, embellishments (milagros and crystal rosary), synthetic organza.

Techniques: dyeing, heat and chemical burning, wet felting, hand stitching, couching, machine stitch, discharging, devore, dyeing, cutting.

Abuela Reads the Headlines, 55''h x 84'' — Abuela Reads the Headlines, 55”h x 84”