Madison and Matthew Creech - This Must Be the Place

Monday, December 4, 2017 to Friday, January 26, 2018

The gallery will be closed beginning noon, Friday, December 22, 2017 through Monday, January 1, 2018. The gallery will reopen at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, January 2, 2018.

Madison Simmons Creech, a 2010 TMFD textile and fashion design graduate, and her husband Matthew Creech's collaborative works present common experiences in contemporary society as emblematic of pop culture nostalgia. Their imagery is a mix of lowbrow idiosyncrasies and pop icons, mashed together to create lighthearted, digitally-manipulated quilts conditioned by political and melancholic undertones. The artist couple uses fabrication to manipulate visual information that is derived from the collective consciousness.

"We are constantly searching for tools to give us agency in articulating our own identity. Humor allows us to reimagine universal icons to express our singularity. Digital fabrication allows us to manipulate visual information derived from the collective consciousness, giving us ownership over the content. Craft provides a platform and a vehicle to critique and reinterpret pop culture. Although our work is silly, it is also deliberate and thoughtful; simultaneously allowing us to be complacent in and critical of the millennial generation."

In conjunction with the exhibition, Madison Creech – a 2010 textile, merchandising and fashion design graduate from the university – will deliver a public lecture on her artwork, process and partnership with Matthew at 4 p.m. Jan. 25 in Room 121 of the Human Sciences Building .

She will also lead a celebrity selfie mini quilt workshop from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 27 at Innovation Studio on Nebraska Innovation Campus. Participants will illustrate a selfie with a favorite celebrity using hand techniques combined with Adobe Photoshop. Activities include memorializing a masterpiece by digitally printing it onto fabric and adding stitched detail using a long arm quilter. Participants will complete a 15-inch-by-15-inch quilted wall hanging. The workshop is open to the public. The fee is $35 and includes all materials. Space is limited. To register, visit https://innovationstudio.unl.edu