Project Quilting 15.3: Inside Out

This week's Project Quilting 15.3 Challenge theme is Inside Out. While I was stumped for ideas, I needed to get started as I had several teaching engagements scheduled for this week, including one that involved travel.

While researching ideas online, I found a TED Talk by french artist JR entitled "My wish: Use art to turn the world inside out" where he shares how he "uses his camera to show the world its true face, by pasting photos of the human face across massive canvases" such as buildings, trains, and iconic landmarks. Towards the end of his TED Talk, he introducees his Inside Out Project which "gives everyone the opportunity to share their portrait and a statement of what they stand for, with the world. IOP provides individuals and groups from corners of the globe with a vehicle to make a statement. Anyone can participate, and is challenged to use photographic portraits to share the untold stories and images of people in their communities."

Recently I participated in a coaching session which involved taking self-portraits. Many of JR's installations features a cropped image of the subjects face and I was especially drawn to their eyes. So I found one of my favorite selfies and zoomed in on my eyes and glasses. In my editing program, I turned the selected photo into a black and white image and then posterized to translate the image into two values of white and black to use for carving a new block print. I transferred the image onto a easy carving block material and packed my carving gouges and a limited block printing kit so I could carve in the hotel room in between teaching engagements.   

Once I arrived to my destination and checked into the hotel, I had a little over an hour before my first engagement. I used this time to outline the various elements, which required quite a bit of focus as I didn't have any spare carving block material! I started with some of the easier spaces and took my time. I didn't finish the carving but needed to head out for dinner followed by an evening lecture as part of the guild's monthly meeting. There was so much creative energy in the guild meeting that I was still pumped up when I returned to my hotel room. Finishing up the carving was the perfect way to wind down for bedtime. Of course, once I was finished with the carving, I was pleasantly surprised by the resulting prints. As I was still a bit punchy from my presentation and the meeting, I had fun taking more playful selfies with the carved block and print.

I was eager to return home to block print onto fabric. I chose a gorgeous palette of handwoven rayon/silk fabrics from Fabmo that each cost $.25!

A Ranger Archival Ink pad was used for the block printing, but I found that layering some paper towels underneath the fabric provided a bit of cushioning and resulted in more crisp and detailed block prints. 

There were lots of eyes watching over me as I pressed and trimmed the block-printed swatches...it was a bit surreal! The rayon/silk swatches were a bit slinky, so I stablized them by fusing Pellon SF-101 Stacy Shapeflex woven interfacing onto the backside of each block-printed swatch.

Once all the block printed selfies were trimmed, it was time to play with layout. I have another art call that I would like to enter which has a minimum size requirement of 16" x 16". Laying them out 4 across and 6 down would not meet the height requirement, so I opted for 3 across by 7 down--similar to some of the cityscapes and buildings that were covered with portraits in JR's Inside Out Project. 

As I was laying out my block printed fabrics, I explored inverting every other one. Not only did these inverted images amuse me, but they created a reflection. In order to align the reflected images, I auditioned with a pin before stitching each seam.   

Once the columns were carefully pieced together, many fabrics were auditioned for potential sashing strips and borders.

After many fabric auditions, I ended up ditching the sashing strip idea before returning most of the fabric swatches uncermoniouosly back on top of the fabric basket. 

Three patterned and highly textured fabrics were used to create assymetrical borders that captured some of the architectural features of JR's installations.

"Windows Into the Soul" finishes 25" x 22"

The title references how a person's eyes can reveal so much about their innermost feelings, thoughts, and emotions. Last month, I was prescribed trifocal progressive glasses. This has certainly been a huge adjustment both mentally as I must recognize that my vision is not what it used to be. But I've also had to acclimate to wearing these new glasses which required considerably more effort and time than anticipated. I continue to adapt to my new glasses and reflect upon how they have shifted my outward appearance as well as my inward thoughts about these life changes.

And to answer JR's Inside Out Project question--I stand for playful curiousity! Thankfully these Project Quilting challenge themes always pique my curiousity as I love exploring new designs and techniques over the course of each challenge week. I invite you to check out all the other Inside Out Project Quilting entries created this past week!