2021 Exhibition

Exhibition July 2021

Fabrications: An Exhibition of Textile Art was to have been mounted at the Carinus Art Centre from 8 to 18 July as part of the South African National Arts Festival. Then along came the delta variant of the Corona Virus and all public gatherings were prohibited. The Festival went virtual. The organisers kindly gave Fabrications an exhibition alcove at the Monument and photographed the work. This page on my website is designed to run alongside the National Arts Festival link (click on highlighted words to go there) which features a three-dimensional self-controlled view of the exhibition. Scroll down for stills of the full exhibition and all the accompanying descriptions, with sizes and prices.

mariss.the.quilter@gmail.com

Merriman House, Market Street. 25 x 34 cm. SOLD

Bishop’s House and old NELM Building. Beaufort St. 25 x 34 cm. SOLD

House Portraits #1 #4 #3 #2 #5

A series of historic Grahamstown houses, constructed in machine appliqué and machine stitching to accentuate the details of the buildings. The houses were appliquéd onto hand-dyed fabric, pieced along the horizon line. The uniform backgrounds tie the series together. The hand-quilting of the backgrounds to the houses adds depth and interest.

Large A4 formats

R1000 each

From a Secret Garden #5 #6 #7 #8

This is a continuation of a series of stylised flowers in appliqué and dense hand stitching. Lace and crochet doilies have been used to form three of the flowers. All the works are a meditation in hand stitch. The first four works in this series have been sold.

25 x 25 cm each

R800 each

Garden of Delights

Awarded third prize in the 2020 Brother South Africa Quilting Contest and stitched in response to the theme of “my favourite things”. Machine appliqué with silver lamé to create the garden trowel. The rest of the piece is hand embroidered and quilted.

70 x 70 cm.

R4500

image courtesy of Brother South Africa

Turkish delight

This quilt was selected as a finalist in the 2019 Brother South Africa Quilting Contest. The giant needle, which is machine appliquéd in silver lamé, represents my love of stitching. The background is hand quilted.

70 x 70 cm.

R4500

WEDDING DRESS #2

A piece about nostalgia. The offcuts and trial bodice from a wedding dress are hand appliquéd onto a machine quilted background. Silk fabrics, synthetic tulle, and cotton thread.

195 x 94 cm.

R18 000

Bird tree

A quirky, bright piece made during the Time of Covid lockdown. Commercial fabric depicting parrots in a forest was used to construct the tree and cut-outs of the birds were appliquéd to the branches. The background is machine pieced using the traditional pin-wheel quilter’s block. Machine quilted and appliquéd.

156 x 114 cm.

R15 000

Full Lotus

A meditation in hand stitch. Petals cut from a worn silk blouse and motifs from gold reproduction fabric are appliquéd onto a fabric background, using kantha-style stitching in hand-dyed perle thread. The blocking pattern accentuates and echoes the central gold motif and the petals are defined by the stepping or slant-wise pattern. The background is filled with evenly spaced, alternative stitches that follow the bricking pattern.

69 x 69 cm

R4500

Half Lotus

An unguided meditation in hand stitch. Thread offcuts from previous works and motifs from reproduction gold fabric are appliquéd onto a fabric background using hand-dyed perle thread. The piece grew organically from the centre. Kantha-style stitching shadows and echoes the lustre of the solid sections of the flower.

69 x 63 cm

SOLD

Hufflepuff

A large, soft, bed quilt in black and white cotton fabrics. Machine pieced in curves to form the circles. Hand and machine quilted.

215 x 215 cm.

NFS

Waiting for the rain

Made during the long drought, the bright houses are set against a barren background and cloudless sky. The road is closely hand stitched. The houses are machine appliquéd onto the hand quilted background.

50 x 93 cm.

R3500

Honky-Tonk Blues

Machine pieced, using fine lawn textiles, the work echoes the Fibonacci series contained in an octave of a piano keyboard and is named after the Ragtime music played in honky-tonk saloons. Hand quilted

90 x 90 cm.

R8000

City Trees

Nine small quilts, containing outlines of trees, are arranged on a neutral, machine quilted backdrop. Machine pieced, hand quilted and embroidered.

112 x 112 cm.

R10 000

Nature’s Book

This textile work is a layered representation of Diane Armstrong’s 10-ton outdoor metal sculpture Page that graces the indigenous garden at the Amazwi Museum of South African Literature in Worcester Street, Makhanda. Strips of woven fabric provide the background for the curved lines of the sculpture. Hand stitched, quilted and couched.

109 x 71 cm.

R10 000

Containment series

This series of heavily machine stitched pieces was made during the hard lockdown in March 2020. Each piece contains an appliquéd item that metaphorically reflects the idea of being contained, or even constrained. An overdyed length of fabric was used for the backgrounds.

A4 (30 x 21 cm), mounted on card

R800 each.

#1. Flower Tree. Gold and flower braids appliquéd and couched onto the background. SOLD

#3. Vase of Flowers. Gold fabric, scraps of fabric under mesh, gold cord, and sequins appliquéd and couched, with a detail of kantha-style hand stitch at the base of the vase. SOLD

#7. Nasturtiums in a Vase. Constructed with flowers cut from braiding, silk petals, sequins, and wool; with the vase appliquéd using fine tulle. SOLD

#2. Sitting it Out. Buddha from shiny gold fabric and flowers from gold braid, appliquéd. R800.

#5. Full Moon. A moon of silk is heavily overstitched by machine to echo the patterns of the milk moon. SOLD

#6. Fish in a Pond. Paisley patterns and borders from an Indian textile were cut out and appliquéd onto the background. Surrounded by hand couched gold cord. R800.

National Costumes

A series of textile works from refashioned (and flattened) clothes taken off souvenir dolls from countries around the world. The clothes are appliquéd onto a canvas backdrop and collaged with postage stamps from the particular country. The assemblage is then heavily over stitched by machine.

United States of America. 33 x 25 cm. R800

Thailand. 35 x 45 cm. R1000

British Royal Guards. 34 x 24 cm. R800

Scotland. 33 x 24 cm. R800

Italy. 35 x 44 cm. R1000

Switzerland. 31 x 25 cm. R800

Wales. 32 x 25 cm. R800

Namibia. 35 x 45 cm. R1000

Holland. 35 x 33 cm. R800