TCD grad student Elizabeth Andrews curates Yikes! Stripes

28 Jan 2009    

Textile History/Quilt Studies graduate student Elizabeth Andrews with congratulatory flowers at the opening of Yikes! Stripes in the IQSC & Museum galleries

For her Option II thesis project, M.A. student Elizabeth Andrews researched the humble stripe across disciplines and media, exploring its applications in everything from sports wear to...well, quilts. The result of her intensive study of this iconographic visual form is the collection of quilts gathered under the title Yikes! Stripes and currently on view at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum through April 5.

Installation view of Yikes! Stripes

The dazzle value of stripes, their power to arrest attention and to serve as signal forms has been known over many centuries. They're forms found in nature, in the built environment, in all manner of costume and clothing, and of course, in quilts. Some of the most visually stunning quilts of the Amish, for example, draw their authority and integrity from the commanding color contrasts distributed across simple striped surfaces. Strip or striped quilts, in fact, occur in just about every quilt tradition, from the most traditional to the most cutting edge contemporary works. This collection focuses on primarily historical works and demonstrates the vigor and dynamic energy that resides in stripe comositions.

Textile History/Quilt Studies graduate student Gloria Comstock (l.) and IQSC

volunteer and docent Sheila Green exchange impressions at the show's opening