Pressure
2016–present
Improvisationally pieced fabric
Quilt top / work in progress
Overview
Pressure explores the tension between form and space. Four improvisational arrowhead forms push outward from the center, pressing against the surrounding negative space. The composition suggests movement, resistance, and contained energy searching for release.
The arrowheads began in 2016 as narrow, colorful strips sewn together intuitively—a process I called Wavy Bacon. They initially existed as fragments without a clear purpose. In 2017, the structure of Pressure emerged, giving those earlier elements context and direction.
The work reflects how ideas can remain unresolved for years before finding the structure that allows them to surface.
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Years: 2016–present
Current state: Quilt top / work in progress
Dimensions: To be confirmed
Materials: Narrow, colorful fabric strips; exact fiber content to be confirmed
Techniques: Improvisational strip piecing; modular construction
Piecing: Arrowhead fragments begun in 2016 and composed into Pressure in 2017
Quilting / Backing / Binding: Not yet completed
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Pressure is about stored energy and delayed resolution. Four arrowhead forms, built from layered strips of color, carry movement within them while remaining constrained by the composition. Each arrow presses outward, creating a visual strain between expansion and containment.
The arrowheads originated as an improvisational exercise, constructed without intention beyond sewing and exploring color. For a time, they remained unresolved fragments. When revisited, their directional nature became clear, allowing them to act as agents of force rather than decoration.
This work speaks to the experience of holding ideas, emotions, or creative impulses under constraint. Sometimes pressure builds quietly, waiting for the right structure to permit release. Sometimes it reshapes the space around it.
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Exhibitions
Abstractions in Fabric — Solo Exhibition
Castleton Bank Gallery (The Bank Gallery)
Rutland, Vermont
August 25–October 13, 2018
Exhibited in its quilt-top state; the work remains recorded as in progress.
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The four arrowhead forms began in 2016 as narrow fabric strips sewn together intuitively in an improvisational process I called Wavy Bacon. At first, the units existed independently, without a predetermined composition.
In 2017, the directional character of the arrowheads suggested the structure of Pressure. The forms were organized to push outward from the center, using negative space as an active force that contains and resists their movement.
The work remains a quilt top. Final dimensions, fiber content, quilting, backing, and binding should be recorded when the piece is completed.