The Contemporary Art Modern Project announces the third edition of Women Pulling at The Threads of Social Discourse, an annual exhibition that centers female voices in the textile arts and listens to what they have to say about the world in which we all find ourselves. Featuring artists from The CAMP Gallery, Fiber Artists Miami Association, and others, the pieces that comment on our goals, our struggles, and our lives, culminating in one large work made up of a myriad of realities. FAMA & Guests Quilts’ goal is to stimulate a democratization of the visual arts in participation, inviting artists at any point in their careers to submit a piece, and in viewership.
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Featured Artists
Abbey Chase, Aida Tejada, Alicia Rodriguez, Alina Rodriguez Rojo, Alissa Alfonso, Alyson Vega, Amy Gelb, Andrea Lumbroso, Angela Bolaños, Anna Weiss, Aurora Molina, Benedicte Blanc-Fontenille, Brian Larson, Carola Bravo, Colette Mello, Danie Gomez-Ortigoza, Debora Rosental, Ellen Pestili, Evelyn Politzer, Fernanda Frangetto, Gabriela Garza, German Molina, Jennifer D. Printz, Jenny Llewellyn-Jones, Juliana Torres, Karla Kantorovich, Karla Mogna, Laetitia Adam-Rabel, Lana Duchene, Laura Marsh, Laura Villarreal, Leslie McKinlley, Leslie Sheryll, Linda Mangual, Lisa Rockford, Luis Alonzo Salvador, Mabelin Castellanos, Maitejosune Urrechaga, Maria Lino, Maria Patiño, Marlene Kohn, Maru Ulivi, Michael Morrigan, Mirele C C Volkart, Nancy Billings, Natalia Schonowski, Natasha Middagh, Nathalie Alfonso, Nicoletta Sacchetti, Patricia Cooke, Regina Jestrow, Rochi Llaneza, Rosana Machado Rodriguez, Rosario Camacho Salazar, Sandra Onetti, Sharon Berebichez, Shelly McCoy, Silvana Soriano, Silvia Yapur, Star Trauth, Stella Vandermey, Valeria Montag, Valerie Lustgarten, Viviana Romero, Yelitza Barrios, Yolanda Sanchez, Zaida Ruiz, and special guest Stella Resnick
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First Slide
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The Intentions Behind Quilting
Historically, the practice of quilting evolved from a material need—warmth—as well as an emotional need to tell
stories and, to a certain degree, to obtain a sense of immortality through remembrance. As Aunt Jane says: today, the
material need really no longer drives the artist toward this practice, but the need to tell stories is still very much the
force behind the quilt. The process of quilting involves taking many different fabric and thread segments, arranging
and making them into one complete whole, so it becomes the epitome of harmoniously unifying the different
elements of life. As quilts become a platform on which to preach about what is happening in our world, and in so
doing become the lesson board from which we should learn, they come to reflect a place of warmth and protection
within which we can stride forward to enact change together. -
Regina Jestrow
Americana Quilt #58, 2021
Hand-dyed cotton, new and secondhand fabrics, thread, batting
“Woman’s Work and Quilting”
Aunt Jane of Kentucky, ca. 1900.“I’ve been a hard worker all my life, but ‘most all of my work has been the kind that ‘perishes with the usin’,’ as the Bible says. That’s the discouragin’ thing about a woman’s work...if a woman was to see all the dishes that she had she had to wash before she died, piled up before her in one pile, she’d lie down and die rights then and there. I’ve always had the name o’ being a good housekeeper, but when I’m dead and gone there ain’t anybody goin’ to think. o’ the floors I’ve swept, and the tables I’ve scrubbed, and the clothes I’ve patched, and the stockin’s I’ve darned...
But when one of my grandchildren, or great-grandchildren sees one o’ these quilts, they’ll think about Aunt Jane, and, wherever I am then, I’ll know I ain’t forgotten”.
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Regina Jestrow
Americana Quilt #57, 2021
Hand-dyed cotton, new and secondhand fabrics, thread, batting
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Regina Jestrow
Americana Quilt #60, 2021
Hand-dyed cotton, new and secondhand fabrics, thread, batting
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Linda Mangual
Untitled, 2021
Fiber, applique, stitching, airbrush, embroidery, embedded natural twigs on heirloom napkin
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Women Pulling at the Threads of Social Discourse has always focused on a practice known as “femmage,” which refers to creative spheres historically associated with femininity: scrap-booking, sewing, knitting, patching, embroidery, and quilting. While men are participants in these crafts, it is the presumed silence and femininity of these activities that allows the works to take on a subversive tone. She may sew in private, but Her words and stitches are keys to exploring what underlying qualities hold or break apart the social fabric.
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Laetitia Adam-Rabel
Infinite Power -
Alina Rodriguez Rojo
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Evelyn Politzer
Threads of Social Discourse, 2021
Embroidery on handmade muslin cloth
After spending all of 2020 apart from one another amidst grave turmoil, many are still experiencing an alienation from life as they’ve known it, seeking to reunite with their communities as well as ideals that we can embrace and be proud of. This year’s edition, FAMA Quilts, speaks to the spheres of experience we’re still grappling with as a collective, both socially and privately, and weaves the participating artists’ stories into one large quilt. The goal of 2021’s edition of Women Pulling at the Threads of Social Discourse, is to physically and intellectually unite their stories and, in many cases, their answers to what plagues us. A return to textile art inspires us to interrogate our intricacies in the same fashion fibers intertwine to create a well-rounded composite, cluing us into how society can break free, and ultimately cure itself, from distance, hate, separatism, and all the ills come to light that defined 2020.
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Silvana Soriano
Meu Corpo Meu Território (My body my territory), 2021"My Body My Territory is a slogan that indigenous women in Brazil created to defend their culture. Tribes like the Yanomami have an understanding about the world that is pure and at the same time extremely refined. They understood a long time ago that we are all connected, human beings, forests, animals, and waters. Visible or invisible, all connect, always and forever. A homage to my ancestors and my country."
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Laura Marsh
Suck It Up is Not Tolerated"SUCK IT UP Is Not Tolerated is an apology to my partner, who I said “suck it up” to when he started his business and was experiencing anxiety. The phrase is dually influenced by tennis player, Mardy Fish’s rejection of what he identifies as the American “suck it up mentality” in the documentary, Untold | Breaking Point. I feel that patience, tolerance, and safe spaces are needed in contemporary expression. We’ve become so removed from person-to-person check-ins that we’ve lost intimacy, and one’s mental health can be at risk without the other knowing it. I dream of a world where psychological health is part of universal healthcare. Felt is a caretaking fabric with loosely woven fibers pressed together. My banners take shape from Medieval banners and crests. I reference Joseph Beuys and his narrative of a nomadic tribe of Tartar herdsmen rescuing him through his use of felt and fat as symbolic materials in The Sled from 1969. I can rescue myself and my family from the notion that you “suck it up and move on” without dealing with the emotional residue of the past and present by opening up a space to be more tolerant emotionally for my communities. Is this mentality rooted in Western civilizations, the Industrial Revolution, or part of our capitalistic mindset?"
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2020’s edition of Women Pulling at the Threads of Social Discourse was made possible by a
collaboration with Fiber Artists Miami Association (FAMA), founded by artists Aurora Molina, Evelyn
Politzer, and Alina Rodriguez Rojo, and expanded to include 40 artists of varied racial, ethnic, and
linguistic backgrounds. 40 Women Pulling at the Thread of Social Discourse saw a celebration of the
Women’s Suffrage centennial in an election year, ultimately unifying fiber art with the complex
intersections of femininity, race and history, and feminist sociopolitics. Arte al Día wrote that "the
marriage of the female artist to the textile medium, both outwardly and socially expected to be weak,
are in fact, in the hands of these artists, affirming that strength lies in durability, pliability and resolve,''
best embodied by works such as Laetitia Adam-Rabel's Red, White, and Pink: The Colors of
Politics, Alissa Alfonso's Earth Can't Vote, Laura Marsh's Resistance Isn't Enough, and Silvana
Soriano's widely publicized figurative collage, We (are) The People. -
Aurora Molina
New Normal, 2021
Thread on cotton
The Absence of Togetherness
Lacking full unity in 2021 many still seek connectionswith those they love and ideals that they can embrace and be proud of. This year’s edition, FAMA & Guests Quilts, speaks on the many different aspects of life lived, both socially and privately, weaving those experiences into one large quilt that unites the artists, their stories and in many cases, their answers to what plagues us. They present a message on how society can break free and cure itself from distance, hate, separatism, and all the negatives that have defined these last two years.
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Abbey Chase
Be the Light, 2021
Assorted fabrics, felt buttons, transfer images, wool needle-felted sun by Janet Stollnitz, Virginia
"Be the Light"
Abbey Chase 2021"Just months before her 100th birthday, Stella Resnik answered that "hand ball and tennis" were the secrets to her long life. But, in just minutes after meeting her you knew it was far more. Surrounded by examples of her lifetime of sewing, quilting, and embroidering at Stella's Stitch, her public exhibition wish of a lifetime, she exuded warmth and her true love of life. The matriarch of her 4-generation family, Stella showed us what authenticity and an open heart can mean. But, the moment she met Aurora Molina's daughter, precious Stella Vandermey (age 4) and their eyes met, it was clear through their instant connection, that she values every person and respects their words. Years as a kindergarten teacher served her well. Symbolizing the words in Maya Angelou's famous poem, "the caged bird sings of freedom," Oprah kept her message alive when she gave our young poet laureate, Amanda Gorman, the ring she wore at President Biden's Inauguration and challenged us all “to be the light." Powerful messages at this moment in history as we live through very complicated times. Stella to Stella, shared values "from generation to generation," gave us all the gift of inspiration. Thank you, Stella, for showing us that creativity, an open heart and freedom to express yourself are also secrets of a life well-lived."
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To learn more about Fiber Artists Miami Assiociation vist their website. To learn more about the artists in this exhibition, you can check out the conversation in our editorial section.