The Art Quilt Australia and Expressions: The Wool Quilt Prize exhibition has once again arrived at the Yarra Ranges Regional Museum in Lilydale.
The exhibition features over 20 quilted works that range in technique as part of a collaboration with the Oz Quilt Network and the National Wool Museum.
“This is the fourth time we’ve presented it, so it’s a nice collaboration between all of us and there are other galleries that come into the 25 years that they’ve been exhibiting for,” Yarra Ranges Regional Museum curator Maddie Reece said.
The 22 quilts that are on display were part of the 69 that were in contention for the Oz Quilt Network Award of Excellence.
The selected quilts were chosen for their excellence in contemporary quilt making through originality and technique, already attracting an audience since launching on 9 July.
“Art Quilt does have its own audience, we have been overwhelmed by quilters in the past week. It’s got its following,” Ms Reece said.
The quilts were made with no theme in mind, however, many of the artists took inspiration from real events such as Covid, bushfires, science and the environment, with each work carrying incredible detail.
“When you walk into the show you’re like, ‘oh yes, quilts’. But the closer you get to the works is where you see that detail and that artistry and talent,” Ms Reece said.
Some quilts follow the traditions of layered and stitched textile but artists like Margery Goodall really pushed the boundaries with her work Safety Net employing the use of medicine boxes sewn together to highlight how the pandemic changed people’s thinking about personal safety.
The artists and their works come from all over Australia and New Zealand. Artists such as Greg Somerville had two pieces selected, taking a microscopic lens approach, using machinery to complete the works.
He was awarded the coveted Expressions Wool Quilt Prize, meaning his work will be acquired into the National Wool Museum collection.
Other artists in the exhibition such as Anna Brown hand quilted their piece and Linda Steele improvised her piece, layering brightly coloured fabrics with freestyle stitching seeing her win the Oz Quilt Network Award for Excellence.
“It’s a real combination of machine stitched, hand stitched, eco dyes and commercial dyes. You’ve got works that are all hand stitched versus those that a machine stitched,” Ms Reece said.
“So you can really pick up that difference. A lot of the artists in this show are employing different materials.
“The longer you spend with each art piece, the more detail (you see). And the more visits you have, each time you walk in you see something different. That is what is exceptional about this exhibition.”
The exhibition was created back in 2009 to showcase how quilting can be used as a technique to create works of art. The works celebrate the art of quilting and how it’s universal.
“Every culture has quilts, it’s like a tea cup. Like a universal object in that sense,” Ms Reece said.
The exhibition isn’t just for quilters, it’s for those who can appreciate the extreme detail and work that went into the pieces on display.
“I think fundamentally as someone who is not a quilter I’m coming to really appreciate the detail and the effort that has gone into them. Because I don’t understand how they can do it. So I think I’m just in awe of what they’ve been able to achieve in individual works,” Ms Reece said.
The exhibition is showing until 12 October at the Yarra Ranges Regional Museum in Lilydale.
