Traditions Made Modern

Traditions Made Modern

Growing up on a Minnesota farm and living in New York City for the past two decades has given Victoria Findlay Wolfe a unique perspective in her art. Indeed, her work often moves cyclically between references to her rural familial roots and her current cosmopolitan locale. She is both a woman with strong Midwestern sensibilities and a leader of the now-global Modern Quilt movement. Combined, these attributes result in a body of work she aptly describes as “traditions made modern.”

Findlay Wolfe trained formally as a painter but, like artists before her such as Jean Ray Laury, Michael James, and Nancy Crow, she found her greatest expressive potential in quiltmaking. Drawing inspiration from her grandmother Elda Wolfe’s colorful polyester quilts—for example, Elda’s Double-Knit Flowers, which inspired A Summer’s Day—Findlay Wolfe explores the fabrics, colors, and landscapes of her childhood, altering them with the aesthetic and technical experimentation in which she delights. In this exhibition, Findlay Wolfe takes a traditional quilt pattern, Double Wedding Ring, and transforms it into something we simultaneously barely recognize and yet know immediately. The quilts are new, bold, and sometimes daring—full of rich visuals and subtle nuances for us to return to again and again.

Works in the Exhibition

Works in the Exhibition

Double Edged Love
Victoria Findlay Wolfe, quilted by Lisa Sipes
2013
77” x 66”
2016.009.0004

Greatest Possible Trust
Victoria Findlay Wolfe
2013
57” x 47”
2016.009.0001

Elda’s Double-Knit Flowers
Elda Wolfe
c. 1985
80”x 65”
2006.009.0003

Works in the Exhibition

Featured Media

Featured Media
Featured Media

Gallery Photos

Gallery Photos
Gallery Photos
This exhibition was made possible through funding from the Nebraska Arts Council and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment. The Nebraska Arts Council, a state agency, has supported this exhibition through its matching grants program funded by the Nebraska Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment. Visit www.artscouncil.nebraska.gov for more information. Additional support provided by Friends of the International Quilt Museum.
Event Date
Tuesday, March 31, 2015 to Sunday, August 2, 2015