Printed & Stitched

Traveling Exhibit Revealing the Connections between Textiles, Printmaking Opens at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles on Thursday, May 2nd through Sunday, September 1st.

Thursdays, Fridays | 1 pm to 7 pm
 Saturdays, Sundays | 11 am to 5 pm

Storyline (detail) by Giny Dixon. Artist dyed and painted white cotton, antique family linens and natural silk fabrics, commercial felt, Perle Cotton, and embroidery threads.

Traveling exhibition Printed & Stitched, which examines the long and storied overlap between printmaking and textiles, will appear at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles from Thursday, May 2nd to Sunday, September 1st. The traveling exhibit features 58 original artworks created by members of the California Society of Printmakers and Studio Art Quilt Associates (California/Nevada regions), and was juried by award-winning artist Christine S. Aaron.

Printed imagery and sewn fibers are a seemingly ancient combination, but the combinations are constantly being reinvented. Printmakers often reference fiber and stitching, while textile artists and art quilters also incorporate printed elements into their work. At these meeting points, color pigments, woven layers, and borders sewn with fiber bring in elements from both areas. 

Throughout the exhibition, different mediums, textures, forms, intentions, and stories explore how textile and print can interact within a single piece. The included work represents traditional and non-traditional use of materials and process; moves from abstraction through representation; and is at times deconstructed, playful, intimate, and expansive. Hand pulled prints reference quilt traditions like fabric and stitching; fabric resembles paper, paper is used as fabric. The work is intriguing and thought provoking, often transcending material and process without losing references to the mark of the hand.


Thank you to Gloria Debs Kahn for sponsoring this exhibition.