Inspiration: Made for the "Roots of Racism" national juried art quilt exhibit curated by Susan Leslie Lumsden (rebelquilter). Opening show displayed in Memphis,TN at Vertigo Studios gallery, then to travel nationally to additional venues. The majority of the Roots of Racism show is being displayed at the United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan through the Art in Embassies program of the United States Department of state. Website displaying the quilts can be found at : http://www.mbgoodman.tripod.com./ror/rorindex.html |
Pay Attention Mom! July 2000. 40"w by 32"h |
Detail of receptive child absorbing all information unfiltered from the TV. |
Detail of the blur of motherhood, always on the move, cleaning and caring for the stuff of the household, abandoning the child to the unmitigated influences of the TV. |
Construction: Commercial cottons, cotton/polys, vintage ?, hand-dyed and discharged cotton fabrics. Metallic, rayon, cotton threads. Raw edge applique. |
Inspiration: Made for the "Roots of Racism" national juried art quilt exhibit curated by Susan Leslie Lumsden (rebelquilter). Opening show displayed in Memphis,TN at Vertigo Studios gallery, then to travel nationally to additional venues. The majority of the Roots of Racism show is being displayed at the United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan through the Art in Embassies program of the United States Department of state. Website displaying the quilts can be found at : http://www.mbgoodman.tripod.com./ror/rorindex.html |
Artist statement: "Mom, I think all dark people are bad." said my 5 year old son. Where did that come from? I've never said, thought, done anything to give him this idea! Where did he get this from? I asked him where he got this idea as calmly as possible. He said: "Well all the bad guys in movies are always bad, bad, bad, dark, dark, dark." I asked him for a couple examples and he mentioned all the Disney Bad Guys. In our small town we have almost zero racial diversity, we have almost no contact with any other races. The only constant source of images of diversity come from the media we're in contact with. In our house that is books, kids magazines, and movies/tv. I've been so worried about limiting their exposure to violence I never really worried about race issues. We've always talked about it, that what's inside counts, everyone looks different from everyone else, etc. Guess that wasn't enough counterbalance!! To show this in a quilt I decided that the central image would be a child flopped on the floor in front of the TV. The TV is growing roots under the floor up into the child. The mom is in the background whirling around cleaning and taking care of the household. She is not paying attention to what is happening to her child while she/he is parked in front of the TV. |
