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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 am allowing myself to work more confidently 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)		Memories of Spring
	Deer Creek Fen		Born of the Earth / Our Spirits Soar
	To Turn, To Turn		Putting It All In Perspective
	A Room of Her Own		Serenity
	Buttons and Cats		Renovation
	Love Knows No Limits		Serenity Above, Serenity Below
	Concerto		Summer Evening Breeze
	Hands All Around		Beginning
	Unity		The Moon Rises Full
	For Sabrina		A Change in Perspective
	Golden Oak		I Never Really Did Like That Pattern
	They Could Have Danced All Night		The Quiet Place Where Time Stands Still
	Decorated - Decorative - Decorating		Dancin
	With One Voice		Open Your Mind, Open Your Heart
	Transition Time		Quiet Reflection
	Lighten Up!side Down		She Shares Her Splendor With The Sea
	Interruptions		Nature's Perspective
	Portrait of the Artist as a ... Refrigerator		Ancestry
	30 Pearls