how many means of expression do we have in our quilts?

We can express dualism with colors. You can see in this photo how Ken Smith used contrast/dualism by dividing his quilt into two zones that represent colors and their “absence” through the use of black and white.

Or we could improvise with shapes that gradually change along the quilt. See here how great use of shapes was made by graphic artist M.C. Escher when he created a dichotomy of bird shapes and fish shapes in his work “Sky and Water I”.

What about creating spot focus selecting areas of darkness or light? Painter Renè Magritte mastered the use of antagonism among day and night, such as in his masterpiece “Empire of light”.

To construct this challenge, we’ve asked through polls what dualism suggested to your mind. 

Our participants proposed examples of dualism in graphical elements (black and white, light and dark, curved and straight, above and below, contrast and balance), but also in abstract concepts (positive and negative, love and fear, agony and ecstasy, yin and yang… two fundamental concepts that coexist – they can complement each other or conflict). Human pairs were mentioned: male and female, Dr. Jekill and Mr. Hyde, two angry men in a duel, two voices in one song. Some of the proposals were more subtle: things can serve more than one purpose, have two sides like a medal, work against one another, and hold more than one idea at a time. May we also find dualism in meditation: an observer and a conscious mind? And in science, such as the dual physical nature of light: particle and wave? Double trouble?? Somebody suggested that a whole can be divided… and others noted that two things may come together in some way.

We are sure that those reflections can inspire you! Think of your quilt as an occasion to show two opposite feelings, to use contrasting graphic elements or in other ways that comes to your mind with the concept-word DUALISM and use them in an improvisational way. Enjoy!

Further game details are described below.

FEATURES

FINISHED SIZE:

minimum 24”x24”, maximum: free

MATERIALS:

your preferred fabrics, solids or prints, and use colors or shapes or other elements to express dualism.

how to participate

JUST BY SHARING

You are invited to play with us!

Join our game on Instagram, remember to tag us @quiltimprovstudio, when you start, and to use in every post the following hashtags dedicated to the game, to be sure we will see your progress:

#qisdualism

#quiltimprovstudio

Deadline July 2nd 2023. 

General Rules for our Games

PICTURES

SHOW THE WORK IN PROGRESS WITH PICTURES OF YOUR:

selected fabrics,

piecing,

layout,

quilting,

finished quilt.

How to take Photos of your Quilts