Quilts Made for Remembering

Esther S White, *I Left the Dishes in the Sink*, 2016; cotton, fiber-reactive dye, ink, copy toner; monoprinted, screenprinted, hand dyed, marbled, photocopied, machine stitched and quilted

Esther S White, *Two Days*, 2016, 51”x41”; cotton, fiber-reactive dye; deconstructed screen printed, hand dyed, machine stitched and quilted

Esther S White, *A Measured Routine*, 2016, 42”x35”; cotton, fiber-reactive dye; screen printed and painted, machine stitched and quilted

When this work was exhibited at ECA+ Gallery in Easthampton, MA, it was accompanied by the following statement:

Since becoming a parent, the boundaries of my studio practice and my personal life have become permeable. To continue making work, I have to be flexible. I have to practice dropping one thing in order to quickly transition to something utterly different. Most of all, I must surrender to circumstance. Initially, my adoption of textiles was a pragmatic choice: I needed to move my practice home. I quickly found that the historical and material concerns of textile art support the central questions of my work.

I use printmaking and craft methods to explore themes of memory, time, and my dual identity as an Artist-Mother/Mother-Artist. Starting with blank yardage, I print and dye fabric that I cut and sew into vivid and densely patterned quilts, wall hangings, and installations. I experiment with the limits of representation, making work that incorporates found objects, drawing, and abstraction.

I am interested in pushing the expressive capacity of pattern by exploring how repetition and irregularity create space for emotional interpretations of color, texture, and form. My inspiration comes from the rhythms of childcare, labor, and family life. I borrow imagery from the familiar and everyday, teasing out the powerful associations and feelings they hold. By printing, flattening, cutting, reshaping, and recombining I remake my inner world with dye, ink, and thread.

More information on the ECA+ blog.

Exhibition: Unbound: New Work by Esther S White and Jamie Williams, at ECA+ Gallery, 43 Main Street, Easthampton, MA. September 6–27, 2016.

Esther S White, *Gated*, 2015-2016; golden baby gate, textiles made by the artist

Installation view of Unbound exhibition, Esther S White 2016

This work part of an ongoing series of works that deal with parenthood made while I am an Artist in Residence in Motherhood.