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Interview: Quilted HardnessArtist Patricia Gillespie Discusses Her Whimsical Take on Social and Gender RolesInterviewed by Marty McCorkle Patricia Gillespie’s wood figures float in front of quilted textiles suggesting a comforting, soft quality but as one reads the raised letter titles this quality gives way to cutting social insight. Contrasting hard and soft, Gillespie’s “paintings” whimsically explore women’s roles as they penetrate the complexity of any social or gender role. “Internment Camp” depicts a reclining bustiered woman, “X-ray Vision” shows a woman ironing, and in “These Shoes Suck 1” a pair of legs sport stylish stilettos with an adhesive bandage on one ankle. Gillespie constructs each frame and then stretches hand stitched quilting over the frame. The cotton batting amply puffs up the quilted background to add a sense of dimension. Her composition is completed when she sets jig-sawed wood figures over the quilting. Gillespie's work is exhibited from March 1 to April 2nd, 2007, at Esteban Sabar Gallery. Do you consider your work paintings? Not really. I would consider them to be mixed media. But, there is a sense of multimedia in my work because I use text to complete my ideas.
What role does text play in forming your work? Sometimes the text comes first. A phrase, or a term that’s used frequently, or even the name of a sandwich, will inspire me to.., come up with an image. And then, at other times, a picture comes to me and I find myself playing with text to make the work come together, to work. How long have you been making art this way? About three years.
It’s an interesting method. How did you come up with it? I have a background in a lot of different types of art- graphics, painting, set design and construction, display, and a million other crafty things. I like the process of bringing materials together, of making an object. I like the materials that I use in this work. They were accessible and they work well together. Initially, I experimented with found materials, but it was difficult to find vintage fabric or clothing that was large enough or the quality that I wanted... And, the wood was too unpredictable.
What title would you give this body of work? Something like “The Museum of Things You Know”. Why? It reminds me of a roadside attraction. A place to stop and see curiosities, where the familiar is presented in an unusual way.
So you seem to have a sense of humor. How did this effect your work? I think that a lot of things are difficult to talk about directly. Humor seems to allow someone to look past the obvious and just poke at it to see if it bites- or if it’s alive. But really, I personally enjoy a good chuckle. I hope to evoke at least a smile or two, or perhaps, a brain tickler. Patricia Gillespie's work is exhibited from March 1 to April 2nd, 2007, at Esteban Sabar Gallery, with an artist's reception from 5pm to 9pm on Thursday, March 1st, 2007. Samples of her work are currently on display at the gallery.
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