Textile design by Amin Kalaf, viewed at Plymouth State University’s Silver Center for the Arts
Jim and I were in Plymouth, NH today and stumbled upon two exhibits of interest at Plymouth State University: a faculty exhibit of art, including a quilt; and an exhibition that traces American textile history though time, and with the help of textile examples provided by Amin Kalaf. The exhibit began on October 7 and ends on December 5, 2009, so we just caught it in the nick of time.
One statement on a wall placard caught my attention. It is a quote from “Seven Lamps of Architecture” by John Ruskin (1849) in which he states that “forms not taken from nature are ugly and that nature has few straight lines.” Are we to surmise that Mr. Ruskin would think all contrived, geometric forms (like quilt blocks) to be “ugly?”
The exhibit includes a few key dates and explanations such as how a loom utilizes warp and weft threads, a mention of the Jacquard loom, when the flying shuttle was invented, as well as the spinning jenny, the first use of block printing in Europe, the first screen printing there, and the first rotary screen printing.
I only wish this exhibit were going to be offered for a longer time so that those of you, in the area, could visit. The textiles are very interesting and well worth viewing.
Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications
