Cyd Engel
"In The Garden of Eden."
54"h x 36"w.
Cotton fabrics, hand & machine quilting, handpainting, airbrush, photo transfer, rubber stamping, beading, hand & machine applique, handpainted wooden buttons, embroidery.
This quilt refers to the original "Mom" - Eve. In the continuum of history, I think women have always had an ability to share ways of coping with adversity and challenges that life inevitably brings. In the time span since receiving this homely dishtowel, I have carried it around like some sort of screenprinted hairshirt, uncertain of my approach to this object which, frankly, didn't appeal to me at all.
I couldn't recall my mother ever even making a pie (other than Mrs. Smith's!). So I turned further back in time and pondered Woman's overall willingness to engage in domestic aesthetics and, clearly, the idea of recipe swaps and helpful household hints began to surface. Who else to represent the icon of domestic aesthetics but Martha Stewart. Cast in the role of the eternal "mother" is Botticelli's Venus (Venus on the half-shell as my family came to refer to her). Two tiny Venus of Willendorfs hover with the celestial gift that St. Martha of Stewart brings to help Eve make the best of a bad situation - a beautifully embellished, tender-crusted apple pie.
Framed in the tradition of Romanesque and Renaissance illustrations, this poignant moment of fictional history also represents current day resourcefulness - a meditation and challenge that took longer than anticipated, but, at long last, emerges as a complete idea (more or less!).
Taking the mundane and transforming it into something unexpected and often wonderous is a skill women are born with and practice daily. Ah, the dreams of domestic perfection! Tomorrow I will achieve the perfect pie crust, domestic bliss, matching linens, and topiaries in the shape of poodles. Got apples? Make pie!
© 1999 Cyd Engel. 2461 Partridge Woods Ct, Burlington, WI. 53105. 414-763-9714. EngelCyd@aol.com
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