Connections

This piece has no other name than 'connections'.

On the left are 3 maps: Lithuania in the late 1800's (when my paternal grandparents lived and left there), South Africa when it was a British Protectorate (when my grandparents arrived there) and a current map of Quebec where we now live.

Down the middle of the piece are images of my grandparents, my father, myself and my 2 daughters.

Down the right of the piece are images of my grandparents' graves, a sign 'Jews temporary shelter', which was the organisation in England where Jewish people were accomodated from around 1800-1930 on their way from Lithuania to South Africa, and a suitcase.  I have chosen these specific images as they carry a lot of symbolic meaning for me relating to the subject of 'connections' - death, transience, on the move.

The fabric is muslin (calico).  I printed on it using Tsukineko dye as well as tea and coffee to obtain a grid in the colours I wanted.

The images are all black and white photocopies on paper which I treated with dyes and a few layers of gel medium.

Before commencing with the quilting, I used white acrylic paint, a few different colours of the Tsukineko dyes and a black stick of charcoal to add dimension.

I then stitched around the people in red thread (blood/life) - starting the stitching from beyond the binding and ending it beyond the binding.

'Embedded' in the piece is the 'Star of David'.  I achieved this with the white acrylic paint and the dyes before quilting it in brown.  Quilting stitches are in the formation of jigsaw pieces as well as the Hebrew alphabet.  I have also quilted along some of the lines of the grid in a transparent thread.

I pushed myself with this piece.  I attempted some printing techniques that I have been thinking of for a while, tried some new Golden products that I recently bought while using images that are particularly meaningful for me.

Looking forward to the next one!

Pamela