Susan Walen - - My Trunk Show: June 2012

One of the exciting groups I am honored to be part of is the Fiber Artists of Hope....which began with the original ObamaMamas. We've grown in number, organization, and passion for issues of social justice.

We were electrified by Trayvon Martin murder, and the call went out to see if we could make a rapid response in art. I didn't think I could do it, but I kept being haunted by the image of this kid in his hoodie, heading home, and ending up dead. I actually asked my darling hubby to put on his sweatshirt with the hood up and let me take some photos, and even he (the sweetest old face in the world) looked just a little sinister. So I put together some faces from the internet, made hoodies for them, and came up with a 9-patch format:

People of the Hood [about 36 " square]

I'll bet you can recognize at least some of these people, but in case you can't, check out the Companion Piece:

Thanks to Google, I was able to locate not only decent black&white photos, but bits of the writing of each of my "hoodie" people. My favorite quote is the one by Lincoln. In case you can't make it out on the chart above, here's the best part (IMO): "When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read 'all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics.' When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy." Pow!

The name of the group exhibition is American Spring, and it's being organized by the wonderful Michelle Flamer from Philadelphia. One of the first venues for this show will be the Facing Race Conference in November, in Baltimore. I'll be there.

SAQA Challenge: I'm Not Crazy

I worked very hard to get this done in time to enter. It was a labor of passion, actually, and the images came to me fully formed. The work began by me digging out an old essay I'd written in a weekend "creative writing" workshop, about my own battles with depression . It divided nicely into 9 paragraphs...and, la!...another nine-patch. I'll give you the whole-piece picture first, and then show it to you block by block, hoping you'll be able to read the words.

Not Just Blue [42 x 52]

Boy, oh boy....I hope this gets accepted! Perhaps someone will find something helpful in it.

UFO* no MO'

There were so many *Unfinished Objects hanging out in my studio, and the positive energy roll I was on from the Blues quilt just swept me into doing something with them. A handful went right into the trash! But the rest, I decided, I would work on and finish.

So, here's a parade of some of my New/Old Work. Enjoy. Buy. Or not.