This series is inspired by the craftsmanship of these well loved quilts as they transform into portraits of the quilt soul.
"Ode to Nikki Giovanni's Quilts"
Nikki Giovanni's poem "Quilts" begins "Like a fading piece of cloth I am a failure" and concludes with
"When I am frayed and strained and drizzle at the end
Please someone cut a square from me and put me in a quilt
That I might keep some child warm
And some old person with no one else to talk to
Will hear my whispers
And cuddle near."
Continuing with Giovanni's theme of purpose and legacy, Crawford used acrylic to paint the 2 subjects at the close of Giovanni's poem on matching frayed and stained quilts to repurpose them as substrates for portraits. As in other works of Crawford, the presence of the sparrows signifies the soul that transcends the ultimate failings of all ephemera and whose whispers persist.
Nikki Giovanni's poem "Quilts" begins "Like a fading piece of cloth I am a failure" and concludes with
"When I am frayed and strained and drizzle at the end
Please someone cut a square from me and put me in a quilt
That I might keep some child warm
And some old person with no one else to talk to
Will hear my whispers
And cuddle near."
Continuing with Giovanni's theme of purpose and legacy, Crawford used acrylic to paint the 2 subjects at the close of Giovanni's poem on matching frayed and stained quilts to repurpose them as substrates for portraits. As in other works of Crawford, the presence of the sparrows signifies the soul that transcends the ultimate failings of all ephemera and whose whispers persist.
