Artwork Details
- Title
- Rites of Passage II
- Artist
- Date
- 1998
- Location
- Dimensions
- 57 x 66 1⁄4 in. (144.7 x 168.2 cm)
- Credit Line
- Gift of the artist
- Mediums Description
- machine-pieced, machine-quilted, and embroidered cotton, indigo, batik, silk, and shells
- Classifications
- Object Number
- 2002.40
Artwork Description
The cloth conveys my sense of how the cultures of the world can be woven into patterns that are both harmonious and unsettling.
--Ed Johnetta Miller
Rites of Passage II distills the artist's memory of watching a performance by Sankofa Kuumba African Dance Ensemble, an arts program for children in Hartford, Connecticut. She explained, "I wanted to create a quilt for them to dance under, dance on, and embrace as they go through the 'rights of passage' into adulthood." Miller selected the hand-printed batik leaf pattern and indigo fabrics to instill feelings of peace, love, and regeneration.
Although Ed Johnetta Miller was a weaver for twenty-five years, when she began to feel limited by the loom, she made a radical decision. She cut up the woven cloth and restitched the pieces back into improvised patterns. No longer bound by the warp and weft--the horizontal and vertical threads required by using a loom--Miller felt free. She layers multitudes of colors, textures, and patterns to spark contemplation and inspiration. She is also a notable member of the Women of Color Quilters Network (founded by Carolyn Mazloomi, whose quilt is on view nearby).
Exhibitions
