These collages explore an alternate reality to the one that we are living in at the moment of discord and disrespect, for fellow humans, animals, and the earth. They are a response to the threats against everything precious in our world. The image of a woman holding a baby, wrapped in a quilt, with wild animals sheltering/protecting under the quilt. This woman/the giver of life/the protector of life and the animals (who may be protecting her or being protected by her) this vision of feminine fierceness coupled with compassion as a way to help heal and mend a broken world. Through her connection with the animals, plants, the earth and the celestial there is a way to live with harmony, connection and love.

Quilt making is a worldwide ancient art, spanning geography and cultures, traditionally an art created by women. Many of the quilt patterns in these collages are inspired by the Kantha, with their beautiful embroidered mandalas/wheels of life which have such a sense of harmony and are symbols of wholeness. Kantha is a centuries old tradition, that originated among the rural women in the Bengali region of India, of embroidery and stitching patchwork into blankets and quilts from fragments of old family garments, using recycled threads worn and softened by the bodies of close kin.

“It could take months or even years to complete one kantha. The stitching could be handed down through generations, with grandmother, mother and daughter working on the same kantha. They are repositories of memories of particular makers, givers, recipients, and owner.

Through lively and personalized images they evoke memories of the past and hopes for the future. Often made to celebrate marriages and births.”

Kantha – The Embroidered Quilts of Bengal Edited by Darielle Mason