Artist: Carolyn Mazloomi

Title: Serenity

Medium: Cloth (quilt)

Date: 2004

Value: Estimated at $2,000

Donor: Ute Schmid Keyes

Website: www.carolynlmazloomi.com/

The quilt comes with an original catalog from the 2004 exhibition

"Threads of Faith: Recent Works from the Women of Color Quilters Network". This catalog is a powerful testament to the spiritual connection some African American quilters make between their quilts and the process of quilt making itself.

 Carolyn Mazloomi is among the most influential African American quilt historians and quilt artists of the twenty-first century. Her desire to tell the African American experience in cloth fueled her exploration in appliqué and narrative quilts. Consistent with the African American folklore tradition of storytelling, Mazloomi is a "fabric griot."

http://www.whyquiltsmatter.org/welcome/news/dr-carolyn-mazloomi-receives-one-national-endowment-arts-national-heritage-fellowships/

The Artist is part of the "Women of Color Quilters Network". 

http://www.wcqn.org/

ÂÂ?Artist Statement

"As an artist, I strongly believe art has the capacity to touch the spirit, engage, educate and heal in ways that words alone cannot. I seek to address issues of serious concern—human rights, social justice and gender equality—by engaging viewers on an emotionally and intellectually level. I see myself as a storyteller, dealing with subject matter I find interesting and has touched my spirit. Images in my work is not planned and evolves extemporaneously.

The greater body of my work deals with issues adversely affecting women and children. The artworks influenced by the status of women are layered with historical, political and social conditions, which call attention to the circumstances of women around the world. Since the beginning of humanity, women have been worshipped, adored, cherished and admired. They also have been defamed, condemned, abused, maligned, raped and killed. The voices of women are vital to humanity. My intention is to invite the viewer into contemplation and raise awareness concerning issues which may be unfamiliar."