Featured Artist - October 2010
Jette Clover
Antwerp, Belgium
[email protected]
www.jetteclover.com
I love living in the city and being exposed to materials in a constant state of transition. A man made landscape of crumbling stones with scratches, worn wood and rusted metal, blistering and peeling paint – but above all, I am drawn to the walls with their fragmented lettering of torn posters, faded signs and scrawling graffiti. And I want to share my excitement of these distressed surfaces and the stories they tell.
I was a journalist before I became an artist, and language and communication continue to be my major source of inspiration. Almost all of my quilts refer to writing. The big pieces to big and bold signage from the streets, the small pieces to the intimate communication of handwritten letters and journals. I like words and letters both because of their ability to project meaning and because of their graphic qualities.
I am a hands-on person, and I like the tactile process of making ‘things’. My quilts are done like collages, similar to the layered wall constructions that I find in the city. Layers of cloth and paper are like layers of time, and stitching by hand is like marking the passing of time.
I usually combine cotton, linen, cheese cloth and paper and I apply a variety of surface design techniques including painting, discharge, frottage, screen printing and transfers to bring text and lettering onto the fabric. I often erase my lettering to a ghost image by overpainting and then sanding certain areas to partly reveal what lies beneath the surface.
I could be painting with oil on canvas – and I do sometimes – but I like the idea of working through the textile medium, because of the tactile quality and because of its identification with women’s history.
| Letter Landscape 4 50" x 54", 2007 |
Downtown 5 18" x 21", 2008 |
Whitewash 5 19" x 19", 2009 |
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