Exhibition reception: Chawne Kimber, Cottoning On

Exhibition Reception for Chawne Kimber, "Cottoning On," Friday, June 28, 5 – 8 p.m., An Easton Out Loud Event

Using improvisational variations of common patchwork quilt forms, Chawne Kimber engages viewers in conversation about issues of identity, difference, and social justice.

Kimber, a professor of mathematics at Lafayette, is a celebrated textile artist who exhibits quilts and embroidery in museums, galleries, and festivals all over the United States. Aimée Littlewood Allen, in a 2017 Modern Quilt Guild blog article, describes Kimber as “a growing force in modern quilting, known for her award-winning work, her popular blog Completely Cauchy, and as an expert on such challenging techniques as small piecing…. But perhaps the most significant reason her audience is growing is because of [her] belief that quilts can express complicated ideas.”

Inspired by quilts made by these ancestors in the late 1800s, Kimber interprets traditional patchwork forms in an improvisational style using vibrant modern colors of commercially available, all-American farmed, processed, and woven cotton. Some of her designs are geometric romps that emphasize the complex forms of negative space that naturally arise, while others utilize unusually small scaling to exaggerate shapes and tonal sequences. Using the quilt medium to respond to current race-related social justice issues, Kimber also indulges in political confrontations in quilt form