CINDY GRISDELA

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

I’m intrigued by color, line, and shape, just like any other artist. Working with fabric like it was paint, I create dynamic contemporary compositions, cutting the shapes out freehand without a pattern or template and sewing them together with my sewing machine.

The color is the first step. I usually begin with a color idea—maybe bright saturated colors, or grays with black and white, or even a neutral palette.

I’m known now for my fearless approach to color, but it wasn’t always that way. In my early days as a quilter, I made traditional quilts from patterns and I was intimidated by color, so I made a lot of blue quilts! But gradually I became more comfortable with putting colors together in combinations that were pleasing to me, and I started challenging myself to use colors that I don’t normally use. Some of those turned out to be my favorites.

There’s a reason I chose to create these pieces of art in fabric and thread rather than paint, and that’s the opportunity to add texture to my compositions with the stitching lines. It’s that tactile nature of quilts that drew me to creating in this way and keeps me excited about going into the studio every day.

I stitch all the lines with my sewing machine, some with freehand motifs and others with straight or wavy lines with my walking foot. There’s no computer program or marking ahead of time that does that part for me. As I stitch, I feel that texture coming to life under my fingers. Some of the pieces have dense motifs stitched into the various shapes of the design, while others have irregularly spaced lines. It all depends on what the composition seems to want or need.

As you appreciate the compositions from a distance, don’t forget to come a little closer to see the additional dimension the stitching lines add.

So, I think of these pieces as textile paintings—I’m drawing with fabric and thread to create my own artistic statement.

Cindy’s Website