Layers of Meaning

Fraser Smith - Quilts as Sculpture

Note: you might need to use Internet Explorer to get the site to open correctly. Fraser Smith is the creator of some phenomenal quilts. The coloring an patterning is lush. The drape of the fabric is so fluid and soft that it seems irresistible. You just want to caress the fabric. Unfortunately, Fraser's quilts aren't fabric. They aren't textiles at all. Smith is a woodcarver. His quilts are carved from blocks of wood and then intricately patterned and painted with dyes or watercolors. In the details of his pieces, he has caught the waivering of light and shadows that quilts get through the interplay of batting and stitching; the way each stitch pulls down ever-so-slightly the surface of the quilt.

Smith explains his process: "Understand, I do not carve exact replicas of cloth, but rather something that looks like what our 'minds eye' perceives as cloth. Consider walking into a room and seeing all the usual things that you would expect to see - table and chairs, a painting or two and ... well, what's this? Someone has hung an old tuxedo on a hook in the middle of the wall. You have to ask yourself, 'Why is this thing here?' At first, you see an incongruous object and you'll make some sort of mental judgment on that. Then you discover that it's a block of wood, and you have to immediately change that judgment. So in a way, on another level, it's like magic." magic = art = magic. We should all make a little!

image: Fraser Smith "Hibiscus" Carved wood & Silk Dyes 68" x 24" x 4"