Stiching up a broken heart

Photo: Cody Torgersrud 

People deal with grief in their own ways, it can be destructive or productive. Avis Collins Robinson quilt "My Mamma is Dead" was a memorial piece completed in memory of her mother. The full sized quilt is constructed in a linear and geometric form in the colors red black and white. Though she is African-American Robinson's piece immediately strikes one as having a distinct Native American sensibility about it. Lifting both the color pallet and some of the form from work typical of certain Native American groups.

The background of the piece is a black grid laid out upon a white background. The choppy, less horizontally elongated, areas of the upper and lower regions are divided by the field of horizontal forms found in the middle, giving the whole work asymmetrical balance without making the form seem to stiff or trite. The long stripes even work to frame the more intricate geometric patterns located in the far ends of the quilt and while stabilizing the work with the heavy horizontal bars found towards  the top and bottom. The red shapes preform many jobs across the work. They provide not only a sense of unity, tying the inner shapes to the outer thin border via color, but also a way to break up the pattern giving the work a sense of punctuated uneven staccato rhythm. The red also leads the eye around the work  making it move up and down the framework of the black in a meandering path.

The work must really be seen in person to be fully appreciated. Not only does Robinson play with the visual texture via the bold color and shape choices but the physical texture is, of course, a whole additional layer of the work. It taken out of context the visual elements could be perceived to be of an almost Malevich-ian flatness but in person the full depth of texture becomes apparent. The work who appears so bold and harsh in still a quilt and is structured out of fabrics like corduroy conveying a sense of softness that was not apparent at first look. From across the gallery this work instantly hits the eye with the basic color pattern and aggressive form structure but on closer inspection draws the viewer into a visually tactile experience quite contrary from its original impression. The ridged layers of corduroy are contrasted against flatter rougher textiles giving even the areas the same in color a sense of depth and movement.

This work is a beautiful work of craftsmanship and a fitting tribute to a lost mother. The complex series of emotions that are grief play out across this work. The numb pain overlaid with the cruel structure that must be maintained to keep going is interspersed with the violent residual longing pain and anger. Truly, a touching work meticulously executed with layers of meaning and visual interest. This piece along with many others are currently on display in UC Davis' Nelson Gallery.