Exhibition Review

“Contour Lines – Rārangi Hua”

Wellington Quilters’ Guild Exhibition, Academy of Fine Arts Gallery

November 2021

It was a privilege and a delight to work alongside Katherine Morrison as a judge of the Wellington Guild’s 2021 exhibition.

This was a glorious exhibition of quilts, ranging from traditional, to contemporary interpretations of traditional blocks, to geometric and figurative, to contemporary and experimental. I was impressed by the number of large quilts, most made primarily as bed quilts, with very few ‘wall’ quilts. Perhaps the anxieties of the Covid times during which these quilts were made, mandated the need for physical as well as visual warmth. Whatever the reason, it resulted in many, many quilts, both traditional and contemporary, that I would be delighted to sleep under.  

Imagination and creativity expanded the boundaries of quilt making. Particularly notable were quilts with vibrant, and often daring, colour combinations; alongside others whose colour was delightfully subtle. Many quilts were notable for their bold and clever selection and combination of patterned fabrics; and I really appreciated those quilts whose designs were naïve, whacky and humorous.  

But judging quilts requires more than just enjoying looking at them. The difference between those that I saw as lovely quilts, and those that I regarded as superb, was that that such quilts ‘spoke’ strongly to me. I prefer to first survey the quilts without reference to the artists’ comments (and no maker’s names were given). It was fascinating that certain quilts spoke to me, very clearly, of there being ‘a story behind the quilt’; of the design and selection of colours, fabrics and techniques as being the outcome of a particular reason and of considerable thought. These were quilts with a special impact, an intensity of expression, quilts that spoke to the heart. Time and again my intuitions were confirmed when I later read the commentaries.  

Congratulations to all the exhibitors who contributed to such an enjoyable and heart-warming exhibition.

-Shirley Dixon has been quilting for many years and is a frequent contributor to Aotearoa Quilters magazine

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