Breaking Boundaries (SAQA Virtual Gallery)

The concept of the art quilt has undergone a dynamic redefinition, liberating it from traditional constraints and inviting exploration into diverse forms of layered and stitched structures, in two or three dimensions. Gone are the days of rigid expectations, where an art quilt was confined to a specific composition with a batting core, meticulously crafted front and back, with a standardized sleeve for hanging.  Celebrate the innovative spirit of artists pushing the envelope of what an art quilt can be.  

Claire Passmore is a British born textile artist currently living in Mauritius. From her first career as a teacher, she re-learned to think, the way children often do, that ‘almost anything is possible’. Over the past 15 years she has developed a studio practice creating art quilts in 2 and 3 dimensions.

Relocating to a new home every few years, Passmore takes inspiration from each of the places she lives. Strong colour, line, and texture feature strongly in her work.

Passmore’s art is in both private and museum collections and is exhibited in galleries, museums and other interesting venues all over the world. She was especially delighted to have a very personal piece included in the 8th European Quilt Triennial in 2021.  She previously served on SAQA's Board of Directors and is a Juried Artist member of SAQA.

This Virtual Gallery was originally proposed by Anna Wagner-Ott who passed away in December 2024. 

Anna Wagner-Ott, born in England and raised in Toronto, had an extensive and distinguished background in art. She pursued her artistic education at the University of Alberta and the University of Toronto, culminating in a Ph.D. in Art Education from Penn State University. From 2000 to 2013, she was a tenured professor at California State University in Sacramento.

Wagner-Ott's work was deeply rooted in her passion for both traditional and contemporary textiles. Since the 1970s, feminist theories have profoundly influenced her artistic journey. Her intricate textile assemblages explore themes of memory, truth, fragility, boundaries, and the longing for freedom.

Since the 1980s, Wagner-Ott exhibited her textile-based artworks widely in solo and juried exhibitions across Central and Eastern Canada, New York, and Sacramento. Her pieces are also part of numerous private collections in Canada and abroad.  

Being the juror for this exhibition was not the plan, and the great pleasure I had in selecting the work for the final gallery was bitter-sweet. Artist Anna Wagner-Ott was the brainchild behind this inspiring call, but sadly she was not able to enjoy seeing it through, as she passed away before she could revel in all the amazing work that the artists submitted. 

Anna wrote that she was inspired by the exhilarating works produced by many SAQA artist members, often transcending mere fabric and thread, breaking free from traditional molds, embracing rawness, and defying categorization, to create powerful artworks that are making waves in galleries and museums.  She was eager to share her passion with like-minded artists who are pushing the boundaries of this dynamic medium.

Thank you to Anna, for her inspiring words, which I kept in the forefront of my mind as I pondered each piece, I hope you would be pleased with my choices. Thank you, too, to all the fabulous artists who submitted work to this call, it was a pleasure to see your work - you gave me a lot to consider.

Irma Bull (Ontario, Canada) - Finding Hope
Judith Content (California, USA) - Gyres
Christel De Vrij  (Belgium) - quilt inside my mattress
Chiaki Dosho (Japan) - From White 1,3
Melanie Dossey (Texas, USA) - Who Am I?
Stephanie Capps Dyke (Maryland, USA) - Defense 
Jennifer Evans (Colorado, USA) - Moroccan Blues
Andrea Finch (Pennsylvania, USA) - Receptaculum III: puer universum transites femina incrementum (A Boy’s World’s transition, a woman’s growth)
Laura Fogg (California, USA) - Equity for a New Generation 
Helen Geglio (Indiana, USA) - Her Armory: Pair of Woolen Brigandines
Armi Heikkinen (Switzerland) - "Old Broken Oak"
Clover L Kemp (Maryland, USA) - WATER: River Bank
Denise Kooperman (New York, USA) - Watermark 4
Louise Krasniewicz (New Jersey, USA) - Space Girl 1956
Karol Kusmaul (Florida, USA) - PhotoBooth
Sue Lewis (Colorado, USA) - Becoming Undone
Yan Liu (Kuwait) - Floating Forest
Niraja C Lorenz (Oregon, USA) - Strata 4 - Outcroppings
Lena Meszaros (France) - Icarus
Sherry Middendorf-Fuller (Indiana, USA) - Syncopation
Susie Monday (Texas, USA) - Guardian of Self Worth
Cindy Moore (South Carolina, USA) - Troop of Roos
Wen Redmond (New Hampshire, USA) - Threads of Memory
Lauryl Rose (California, USA) - Index of California Wildfires Micro Quilts
Jane Rundle (Australia) - Comfortably Numb
Sarah Ann Smith (Maine, USA) - XOXO 2022
Ivy Strauss (Connecticut, USA) - Racoobearasaurus
Beverly Tiemann (Oregon, USA) - Democracy Burning
Debra Zelenak (Wyoming, USA) - A Glimpse of the Past II
Maija Zemitis (Ontario, Canada) - Crimson Madder Corset