~EDRA SOTO / MORGAN LEHMAN, NY / NADA House 404A
New England’s beloved, winter white snowball quilt pattern – turns black . . . in the tropical heat /
while addressing the historical, colonizing impact of the USA / on the island of Puerto Rico.
and, prob more likely just a function of basic graphic intersects / points on a grid.
I’m not sure the artist is even aware of the traditional early New England – ‘snowball’ quilt pattern ?!!
but at any rate, her decision to see the central shape ‘balls’ / i.e. the ‘negative’ space between the smaller surrounding grid units / as ‘black’ . . .
as opposed to . . . ‘our’ white – is telling / and, deliberate.
our early, pieced quilt pattern . . addresses: childhood fun, and the freedom to play joyfully, and carefree – in the fresh falling snow /
this contemporary interpretation of the same / square grid pattern, has a completely different message.
the central white snowballs, now rendered ‘black’ . . announce: “resistance, and civil disobedience”.
EDRA SOTO, MORGAN LEHMAN, NYC / NADA House 404A
NADA House – open weekends . . thru AUG 1.
EDRA SOTO, ‘Tropicalamerica 21’.
in early New England patchwork quilting traditions, a form of this grid pattern was called, ‘Snowballs’, and in it – the black shapes, would have been rendered – in white.
just shut your eyes, and i-m-a-g-i-n-e.
EDRA SOTO, ‘Tropicalamerica 21’.
EDRA SOTO, (b. 1971, Puerto Rico / currently teaches in the USA, where she is a faculty member in the Contemporary Practices Department at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
her new hand-crafted, textile artwork, titled ‘Tropicalamerica 21′,
“is suspended form the ceiling, (with) custom vinyl (tape) artwork adhered to the windows . . . continuing the artist’s practice of creating architectural interventions in spaces that connect her heritage with the pa articular history of the site where her work is being presented . . .
The 3 x 5.5’ fabric and metal flag features 78 4-pointed stars with each star representing a county equivalent entity (“municipio”) of Puerto Rico. This artwork is inspired by the all-black Puerto Rican flag, which was introduced in 2016, as a symbol of independence, resistance, and civil obedience. In Soto’s rendition, the artist refers to the visual motifs of Puerto Rican vernacular architecture to create a highly graphic original design.
The stars are made of soft pushed metal and hang loosely from the fabric . . .
In the windows Soto has created custom vinyl tape artwork that continues the architectural patterning that appears in the flag . . grafting the decorative motifs of her homeland onto the historic New England architecture (of the Governors Island / NADA House) . . .”
~MORGAN LEHMAN
see: EDRA SOTO / NADA House – MORGAN LEHMAN
note: hung this way, with a vertical domination, of course it speaks more of a quilt, than a flag, at least to me.
esp with the ‘square’ . . (piece work) multi-patterns.
EDRA SOTO, vinyl tape art work on the historic windows.
yes, a window – is a beautiful & scientifically wondrous . . thing.
whether it allows us to look out upon the surroundings, through clear glass / or symbolically – as a window of refection, upon history.
the potential for dialog, as spoken by an art work, is also – a beautiful thing.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH