Yoshiko Jinzenji

Star Connection, nylon, natural dyes, 68 x 83 inches

Yoshiko Jinzenji lives and works in Japan and in Bali. Her quilts are simple and to the point. They are spiritual, covered with hand work and attention to detail. They are like prayers. Baby quilts, bamboo dyed silk, hand stitch

She began quilting after she came upon quilts made by Canada's Mennonite people in the 70's and was moved by their resonant, sacred quality. When she attended the Mennonite Relief Sale she realized that the Waterloo area Quiltmakers played a role of global significance. "Women's handwork was making a huge contribution to the welfare of humanity, and that helped inspire my eventual decision to devote my own life to quilting." Ten Thousand piece quilt, Natural dye, cotton, 72 inches square

The energy in the repeated texture of the many seams and the understated colour make Ten Thousand Piece Quilt a minimalist masterpiece. All images in this post are from Quilt Artistry: Inspired Designs from the East, a book published in 2002 about Yoshiko Jinzenji's work. Versification II

Yoshiko calls the method used for the above quilt 'spiral block', a technique similar to the traditional log cabin technique in that the fabrics are stitched around a central square. What's different is the use of innovative materials such as titanic coated nylon and rubber in combination with silk, wool and cotton and the artist's use of piping cord to strengthen and enhance the wide variety of textures.
Dew II, silk, cotton, wool, linen, natural dyes including bamboo, 75 x 77 inches

"What I am striving for is to bring out and add to the essential textures of the cloth" she says. "to create shadows and light, to find a balance between minimalism and a sense of richness."



white repose
hand stitched bamboo dyed silk quilt 85 x 102 inches

John Mawurndjul

John Mawurndjul is from Maningrida, in North Australia. He was born in 1952 and has been intensely prolific for thirty years.





Mardayin at Mankarrard 2004 Ochres on bark 204 x 74 cm
Mardayin Ceremony 1999 ochres on bark 153 x 88 cm

I've gathered these images and information from a book just published in 2008 about the collection of Colin and Elizabeth Laverty, Beyond Sacred, Recent Painting from Australia's remote Aboriginal communities. The specific text about John Mawurndjul is by Apolline Kohen. Mardayin at Makkamukka 1998ochres on bark 158 x 78 cm

In 1989, his work was included in the landmark exhibition "Les magiciens de la terre" at the Centre Georgess Pompidou in Paris, France. During the 90's his work became abstract images about the rarely performed Mardayin ceremony. This is a ceremony about clan identity and about mortuary rites.
His paintings are on bark. I only have seen them in reproduction, but I imagine them to be wonderfuly textural and earthy in reality. Mardayin at Kakodbebuldi 1998 orchres on bark 154 x 64 cm

His work since 2000 are abstract representations of places in his clan estate. I am inspired by the way John Mawurndjul balances circles within intense backgrounds. His use of the cross hatching infil (called rarrk) in the backgrounds is innovative and has been a huge influence on other Kuninku artists. Mardayin at Milmilngkan 2003 etching on paper 60 x 35 cm

In 2005, the artist was given a retrospective of his work at the Musee Jean Tinguely in Basel, Switzerland that then travelled to Germany.

Sue Hammond West

Wisdom Nerve paint, wool, silk, thread, objects on felt 72" x 72" 2006-2007 In 2007, I took a four day workshop with Sue Hammond West at the Surface Design Association conference in Kansas City. The class was called "Art as Quiet" and I loved it. Each session began with meditation. We painted with acrylic on scraps of upholstry material and stitched into them afterwards. We did not make small talk while creating and this encouraged each of us to work with inner passion. Abundance Magnent paint, silk yarn stitching, gold leaf on industrial felt , 72" x 72" 2006 Sue Hammond West also had an exhibition in Kansas City at that time and I was very impressed with seeing her work. It is very large and simple with barely tangible circles and organic shapes surrounded by large quanities of space. I found myself emotionally gripped by her work. numina paint, paper, mica, stitching on cloth 49" x 50" 1999 - 2004 She currently teaches at Naropa, the Bhuddist University in Boulder, Colorado. Tacit Longing paint, paper, rocks, flower petals on industrial upholstry cloth 59" x 60" 2003-2004 These images of her work are from her 2007 self published catalog of mixed media textile paintings as well as from an article about her work by Ginger Knowlton that I read in the spring 2007 Surface Design Journal. Nectarian Moonlight paint and stitch on industrial upholstery, 79" x 38.5", 2006 

Sue Hammond West's website . 

Ase Ljones

Thread Suns, 1999

Ase Ljones is from Norway. She uses hand stitching to make very contemplative surfaces relating to nature. I read about her work in Embroidery magazine Sept-Oct 2008 in an article by Jessica Hemmings.

Wandering Towards the South, 1999, 288 x 255 cm, cut rubber

The things she makes have a material beauty that she is able to combine with an ethical stance. She often uses recycled materials such as old inner tube rubber. Her work shows an extraordinary committment of time that is directly related to labour.
Intention is prioritised over speed.

modernist aesthetic

Memory of Wikwemikong detail 2008

I have started this new blog to give myself a place to keep images of art made by others that I am moved by. The more I look at art, the more I realise that I appreciate the beautiful simplicity of the modernist aesthetic.

I have made a list of over 150 artists and plan to post about each of them in the future, one at a time. While some of these artists already have huge web presences, many do not. This blog will gather them together for me - it's as if I am a collector or a curator. I hope that others will enjoy this collection as well.

From now on, the work on this blog is the work of artists I admire and not my own work. Although the image above is my own work, future posts will profile other artists who work with a similar aesthetic.