Music in Anglican Liturgy
April 18, 2024
Nature Transformed: LAIRD
April 18, 2024
Jacque and Jay
Two men, both in their 80s, Jacque (Jack) Huber, who graduated from Notre Dame in 1958, and Jesse (Jay) Wright, who finished his freshman year there that same year, did not know one another when they were on campus together. But 60 some years later, two-and-a-half years ago, they started their first art fabric project together.
During COVID Wright did a series of 50 drawings that suggested patterns in American quilts and hex signs as well as American paintings of the Optical Art Period. Thanks to the curator at the Ponte Vedra Cultural Center, he met Jacque Huber, an experienced quilt designer and fabricator. Huber in turn works with a number of well-known quilters to execute his work. Almost immediately the two men began a collaboration.
They call the work they do ART FABRIC WALL HANGINGS. These pieces have their roots in the tradition of American quilting and the ancient traditions of tapestry making. And they are also related directly to the more recent Optical Art Movement from the end of the 20th Century.
At first Huber simply translated designs that Wright made into art fabric pieces. But it wasn’t long before he began to use his experience with the tradition of American quilts to add a border here, a slight rearrangement there. And from there, a real collaboration began.
The lead image in the exhibition derives from one of Wright’s drawings. It has a design used by early American quilters, but it was rethought by Wright. Then subtle changes Huber introduced made the piece more vibrant and work truly identifiable as part of today’s world.
Jacque painstakingly stitches together his and Wright’s designs, altering and adjusting the elements of the original concept. And finally the quilter finishes each piece as a contemporary work in the long tradition of quilted art work. Wright’s designs influence Huber’s just as Huber’s work changes what Wright does. And the quilter finally brings them to life as Art Fabric Wall Hangings. It is true collaborative art. And it is designed to bring delight to each viewer’s soul.
