About the Artist
 
Artist's Statement

It begins with fabric -- how it feels against your skin, how it absorbs and reflects light, how it resonates throughout our cultural history. When you run your hand across one of my art quilts, there's the soft, warm feel of the woven cotton fibers, but there's also the stiff, wrinkly texture of the quilting stitches. It's a tactile medium, one with a long, rich tradition behind it. For hundreds, if not thousands, of years, we've kept ourselves warm by draping sewn-together layers of fabric over our shivering bodies. And for perhaps almost that long, we've applied decorative motifs and patterning systems to the surface of the fabric to keep our spirits warm.

I love that connection to the past.

My quilts are designed as works of art. They're meant to be hung on a wall, pored over, reflected upon. As a geometric abstractionist, I use line and color to delineate shapes and space. Sometimes, there's a sense of landscape in my work, but only in a very abstract way. Most of the time, I'm pursuing some kind of patterning idea, repeating elements while varying them slightly to create large, complex compositions. As a structuring device, I like to use algorithm-like operations that send sets of fabrics past one another, forming patterns that owe something to both choice and chance.

Some of the patterns I work with hark back to traditional quilting, with its long history of deriving complex designs from simple shapes. But most of my patterns have their roots in modern art and design, from Japanese woodcuts and Bauhaus weavings to Op Art and the Pattern and Decoration Movement. I've been influenced by the century-long tradition of modern abstract art, from Piet Mondrian to Ellsworth Kelly to Bridget Riley and beyond. I've also been influenced by the modern world around me: Slinkys and Spirographs, circuit boards and bit maps. The goal is to go beyond these influences, to make something that has an immediate wallop and yet bears further scrutiny.

Juried Exhibitions
Northern National Art Competition: group show
Nicolet College Art Gallery • Rhinelander, WI • 7/18/14 - 9/11/14 Glimmer
New Work: dual exhibition
Madison Public Library, central branch • Madison, WI • 11/7/14 - 12/23/14 New Work
Open: group exhibition
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery • 12/1/14 - 12/31/14 Trace Elements
Abstracts: group exhibition
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery • 10/1/14 - 10/31/14 Transformer
Botanicals: group exhibition
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery • 7/1/14 - 7/31/14 Pinks
Landscapes: group exhibition
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery • 6/1/14 - 6/30/14 Dusk
CityScapes: group exhibition
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery • 3/1/14 - 3/31/14 Glass Houses
Quilt National 2011
Dairy Barn Cultural Arts Center • Athens, OH • Checks Mix
Quilt Visions 2010
Oceanside Museum of Art • San Diego, CA • Long May It Wave
ArtQuilt Elements 2010
Wayne Art Center • Philadelphia, PA • Light-Emitting Fabric
Quilt National 2009
Dairy Barn Cultural Arts Center • Athens, OH • Take Five
American Quilter's Society Annual Exhibition 2009
Paducah Expo Center • Paducah, KY • Judge's Choice Award: Light-Emitting Fabric
Quilt Visions 2008
Oceanside Museum of Art • San Diego, CA • Oh, Gee
American Quilter's Society Annual Exhibition 2008
Paducah Expo Center • Paducah, KY • Completely Dotty
ArtQuilt Elements 2008
Wayne Art Center • Philadelphia, PA • Please Adjust Your Contrast
Quilt Expo 2015, Quilt Expo 2008, Quilt Expo 2007, Quilt Expo 2006, Quilt Expo 2005
Alliant Energy Center • Madison, WI
Quilt National 2007
Dairy Barn Cultural Arts Center • Athens, OH • Caseville, August 3, 8:53 p.m.
American Quilter's Society Annual Exhibition 2007
Paducah Expo Center • Paducah, KY • Mado-Gawa No Seki
Invitational Exhibitions
Mini-Retro: solo exhibition
Whitewater Cultural Arts Center • Whitewater, Wisconsin • 8/4/16 - 8/28/16 Mini-Retro
The Jury Is In: seven-person show
Visions Art Museum • San Diego, CA • 4/16/16 - 7/3/16 The Jury Is In
Out of Whole Cloth
Ballweg Gallery • Goodman Center • Madison, WI • 3/1/16 - 3/31/16 Out of Whole Cloth
Quilt Making: A Modern Practice: group show
Gallery at Truax • Madison College • Madison, WI • 1/11/16 - 2/19/16 Trans Action
im(material): three-person show
Gallery 1 • Overture Center • Madison, WI • 12/8/15 - 13/6/16 im(material)
Wisconsin Visual Artists SC Chapter: group show
UW Hospital • University of Wisconsin • Madison, WI • 8/29/15 - 10/3/15 Heavy Metal
Summer Works: group show
Opera House Art Gallery • Mr. Horeb, WI • 7/18/11 - 9/21/11 Gold Bricks
Wisconsin Visual Artists SC Chapter: group show
Pyle Center • University of Wisconsin • Madison, WI • 5/1/15 - 5/28/15 Tequila Sunset
Wisconsin Visual Artists SC Chapter: group show
UW Hospital • Madison, WI • 9/6/14 - 10/4/14 Starry Night
Vital Signs: group show
Promega • Fitchburg, WI • 6/10/14 - 9/30/14 Click
Featured Artist, Glendale Quilt Guild annual show: solo exhibition
Pasadena Convention Center • Pasadena, CA • 3/21/14 - 3/22/14 Above the Fruited Plain
Just Off the Square: Solo Exhibition
Madison Municipal Building • Madison, WI • 5/20/11 - 7/29/11
Quilt Visions Gallery • San Diego, CA • 5/7/10 - 7/25/10
Cream of the Cloth: Quilts from the Marbaum Collection of Hilary & Marvin Fletcher
San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles • San Jose, CA • 11/16/10 - 1/30/11 • Sine Me Up
Piecing It Together: Solo Exhibition
Quilt Expo • Madison, WI • 9/9/10 - 9/11/10
Exceptional Quilts 2008
Castle Museum • Saginaw, MI • Staggering 1Cloud Cover
By the Hands of Men 2007
Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum • Golden, CO • VWStacked Against Me
National Publications
Color Play, by Joen Wolfrom
C&T Publications • Lafayette, CA • Color Play
Quilt Art Engagement Calendar 2011
The American Quilter's Society • Paducah, KY • Oh, Gee
The Art Quilt Collection: Designs and Inspiration from Around the World
Sixth&Spring Books • New York, NY • A Complete Basket Case
500 Art Quilts
Lark Books • Asheville, NC • Around the BendSine Me Up
The Art Quilt: Quilt Visions 2010
A Visions Publication • San Diego, CA • Long May It Wave
Quilt National 2009: The Best of Contemporary Quilts
Lark Books • Asheville, NC • Take Five
The Art Quilt: Quilt Visions 2008
A Visions Publication • San Diego, CA • Oh, Gee
Quilt Art Engagement Calendar 2008
The American Quilter's Society • Paducah, KY • Staggering 1
Quilt National 2007: The Best of Contemporary Quilts
Lark Books • Asheville, NC • Caseville, August 3, 8:53 p.m.
Quilt Art Engagement Calendar 2005
The American Quilter's Society • Paducah, KY • GridLock 1