The New Quilt 2024 Preview: Anita Brown

The New Quilt 2024 features Stripes and Struts 2, a double-sided work by Anita Brown.

Anita has been quilting for 26 years and comes from a background of drawing and printmaking. She started her first quilt in 1998 and has finished almost 100. In 2016 she joined Sydney Modern Quilt Guild and has been president for the last few years. Her practice has changed over the years, but quilting has always been paramount to the design of her quilts and she uses a combination of machine and hand quilting. Anita also likes to reflect the top design on the back of the quilt and has started to stitch on the back which does not go through to the front. It has always been important to her to design her own quilts and to keep progressing with both skills and designs, and she sees quilting as drawing with thread. In an age of computerised machines and a myriad of tools, she thinks that making a quilt totally herself which is reflective of her skills is an important message that “hand made really still matters”.

Plan an art excursion! The New Quilt 2024, on exhibition at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, NSW from 4 May to 23 June 2024. Official opening and awards ceremony from 6pm on Friday 3 May 2024. RSVP to the gallery. 

Gallery hours: Open 6 days a week Monday, Wednesday-Friday 10am-4pm Saturday-Sunday 10am-3pm. Closed on Tuesday and public holidays.

 

The New Quilt 2024 Preview: Anna Brown

The New Quilt 2024 includes Canopy 27 by Anna Brown, one of the founding artists of The New Quilt exhibition. 

Anna has produced a body of work studying eucalyptus canopies and more recently the impact on them by catastrophic fires. Using photographs from Anna’s immediate environment and a deliberate high contrast colour selection, Anna draws shapes directly onto cotton fabric. Her favourite technique of reverse applique enables her to cut away at the layers and to reposition the shapes until she’s happy with the composition. 

See more of Anna's artwork at: www.annabrown.net.au and IG @annabrown1554

 

 

 

Plan an art excursion! The New Quilt 2024, on exhibition at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, NSW from 4 May to 23 June 2024. Official opening and awards ceremony from 6pm on Friday 3 May 2024. RSVP to the gallery. 

Gallery hours: Open 6 days a week Monday, Wednesday-Friday 10am-4pm Saturday-Sunday 10am-3pm. Closed on Tuesday and public holidays.

The New Quilt 2024 Preview: Jenny Bowker

Today's preview is O Holy Night by Jenny Bowker (www.jennybowker.com), a commentary on the Gaza-Israel conflict.

Jenny Bowker is a textile artist, quilt teacher, writer and textile tour leader. She has lived for 19 years in Arab and Islamic countries. This has contributed to a large part of her work. She loved her time in the Arab world. Some of the things happening to people there at the moment are difficult for her to watch.  She says: "Not all quilts need to be warm and comforting. There is a strong message in a blanket that has a disturbing story to tell."

 

Plan an art excursion! The New Quilt 2024, on exhibition at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, NSW from 4 May to 23 June 2024. Official opening and awards ceremony from 6pm on Friday 3 May 2024. RSVP to the gallery. 

Gallery hours: Open 6 days a week Monday, Wednesday-Friday 10am-4pm Saturday-Sunday 10am-3pm. Closed on Tuesday and public holidays.

 

The New Quilt 2024 Preview: Sheila Beer

Negative Space by Sheila Beer is made from photographic negatives, book cover plastic, thread. 

Sheila Beer online: @thingstitcher

Plan an art excursion! The New Quilt 2024, on exhibition at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, NSW from 4 May to 23 June 2024. Official opening and awards ceremony from 6pm on Friday 3 May 2024. RSVP to the gallery. 

Gallery hours: Open 6 days a week Monday, Wednesday-Friday 10am-4pm Saturday-Sunday 10am-3pm. Closed on Tuesday and public holidays.

The New Quilt 2024: Previews, Profiles and Public Program

QuiltNSW proudly presents The New Quilt 2024 at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, NSW from 4 May to 23 June 2024. The New Quilt is a juried survey exhibition showcasing the art of quilting. The exhibition features 36 quilts by contemporary textile artists from across Australia highlighting the rich diversity of stitched and layered materials. This includes two invitational works by jurors Ruth de Vos and Fiona Gavens. Starting on 28 March, we will be sharing a daily social media preview of each of the quilts along with an introduction to the relevant artist(s).

Plan an art excursion! Hawkesbury Regional Gallery is open 6 days a week. Here are the gallery hours: 

• Monday, Wednesday-Friday 10am-4pm
• Saturday-Sunday 10am-3pm 
• Closed on Tuesday and public holidays (eg King's Birthday)

Hawkesbury Regional Gallery is situated at 300 George St, Windsor and is accessible by car and public transport.  See the gallery's How to Find Us page for more information.

The public program at the gallery includes the following events:

• Friday 3 May from 6pm: official opening and awards ceremony for The New Quilt Prize and The New Quilt Prize Runner Up. (RSVPs will be coordinated via the gallery's website closer to the time.)
  
• Thursdays 1-3pm: meet an artist - more details to come
• Sunday 19 May 2024 from 1-3pm: artist floor talks
  
• Saturday 1 June: Artful Stitching with Sustainable Materials, a workshop with Jessica Wheelahan with a focus on hand stitching techniques and processes for the sustainable use of materials - more details to come.

For information about exhibition tours and group bookings, please contact the gallery directly at: gallery@hawkesbury.nsw.gov.au