8’x9’
This piece was finished nearly a year after begun and covers the entire wall with a boisterous medley of recycled fabrics and colour. It gave me direction, dedication, and a sense of control during the months of Covid.
Best of Show, Colors of Community, Allendale, Michigan 2022
International Quilt & Fiber Festival ‘23, Pacific Northwest Quilt & Fiber Museum, La Conner WA
World of Threads ‘23, Oakville ON, Canada
Excellence in Quilts,Virginia Quilt Museum, Harrisonburg VA
Art Prize ‘22, Monroe Community Church, Grand Rapids MI
read more…
https://www.surfacedesign.org/pandemic-projects-susan-avishai/
57”x57”
Another piece prompted by the conflict in the Middle East. Can we continue to hope for a way to resolve conflict without destroying each others’ lives and homes? What will it take for us to learn empathy, compromise, and tolerance?
This piece will be in a special exhibition, entitled Soul Stories: Threads of Existence at the Houston International Festival, Fall 2025.
This series references the extreme effects climate change is already having on our fragile planet.
The pieces were created from cast-off men’s shirts, once worn perhaps by decision-makers in conference board rooms, discarded now, and headed for landfill. Our decisions now had better take climate change seriously or who can we blame but ourselves?
Exhibited at Among the Garbage and the Flowers at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum, Almonte Ontario, a show of Eleven Textile Artists who upcycle old clothing into art. This was my first time as a Guest Curator.
https://www.instagram.com/mississippivalleytextilemuseum/p/CvhuP5-oZAc/
48”x44”
If we destroy our planet, where else can we go?
The life force of the Phoenix cannot be extinguished. I use the metaphor of reincarnation to demonstrate the artful possibilities within materials, previously thought of as past their use or aesthetic value. The wings by themselves are now in the exhibition “Renewal,” touring Canada for three years.
“Magnified, sanctified, be Thy holy name...” These words, from Leonard Cohen’s You Want it Darker are taken directly from the Kaddish, the Jewish mourner’s prayer. No mention is made of death; it is simply a prayer of praise. Written in the 13th century in Aramaic, the Kaddish is said during every traditional prayer service where a quorum of 10 is present. After World War ll, recitation of the Kaddish was outlawed in countries the Soviets controlled, no doubt to prevent Jews from gathering. My piece is the first four words of the Kaddish expressing continuance following tragedy.
It is now in a touring exhibition entitled “Bearing Witness.”
