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Artist's Statement

Ann Wasserman

My interest in quilts and quiltmaking includes both the love of the antique beauties and the challenge of contemporary design.

My background in anthropology has lead me to study the social context and history of quilts and quilters. The role of women in the history of this country, the "heart and soul" of quiltmaking, is as exciting to me as the beauty of the quilts themselves. I do feel a strong connection to and continuity with quiltmaking traditions, though I don't make traditional-looking quilts. The drive for self-expression is one and the same.

I explore original design in my own quiltmaking as an expression of my own heart and soul. I often work with dream and meditative imagery, letting the quilts design themselves from these intuitive places. I am learning to trust these images and to keep the rational from editing as I sew. This is a metaphor for a process that is on-going in all aspects of my life.

I hope to make quilts that are pleasant to look at, and that express balance and peace. I am often drawn to include horizontal or circular forms in my imagery and to use color combinations that are delicate and subtle. Landscapes are a common inspiration and subject. Gradations give a sense of depth or of a light source. Often, borders are ambiguous, somehow part of the design, never completely containing the images. The fabrics and threads themselves are always an essential part of the design and effect. I want to leave no question in the viewer's mind as to why the idea is executed in fabric rather than with paints or inks.

	Something From Nothing (series - 53 quilts)		Decorated - Decorative - Decorating
	Deer Creek Fen		With One Voice
	Serendipty - At the Center of It All		Transition Time
	Balance		Lighten Up!side Down
	Italy		Interruptions
	Totality		Portrait of the Artist as a ... Refrigerator
	Celebration		Memories of Spring
	Tesselation		Born of the Earth / Our Spirits Soar
	World Turns Upside Down		Putting It All In Perspective
	Dancin' Dots		Serenity
	Eye Contact		Renovation
	30 Pearls		Serenity Above, Serenity Below
	Ancestry		Summer Evening Breeze
	To Turn, To Turn		Beginning
	A Room of Her Own		The Moon Rises Full
	Buttons and Cats		A Change in Perspective
	Love Knows No Limits		I Never Really Did Like That Pattern
	Concerto		The Quiet Place Where Time Stands Still
	Hands All Around		Dancin'
	Unity		Open Your Mind, Open Your Heart
	For Sabrina		Quiet Reflection
	Golden Oak		She Shares Her Splendor With The Sea
	They Could Have Danced All Night		Nature's Perspective