Façade VIII, 40×67 inches, ©2010 Deidre Adams

I’ve just finished a new piece in my Façade series. (I’ve posted a couple of others here and here.) This piece was started well over a year ago, but it took me a long time to finish it. Sometimes this happens; I get stuck. I don’t try to force it, I just work on a particular piece until I realize I’m not getting anywhere with it and then I put it away. I bring it out later after I haven’t seen it for awhile, and by then I can see it with fresh eyes and I’m ready to try some new things.

Façade VIII, detail

It took me a while to realize that I am not a linear thinker. I used to try to work on one piece from start to finish, but I found it frustrating and self-defeating. Once I discovered the idea of working on multiple things concurrently, my productivity increased exponentially. When I get stuck on one thing, I just move to the next. I have many textile pieces and paintings all in various stages of completion at any given time, and with things always out on the wall or on the table, I can take advantage of any tiny sliver of time to get a bit of work in. It’s especially handy since a lot of my work involves waiting for paint to dry before I can go further on something. It also seems to suit the way my brain works, which admittedly has changed in the last several years. I blame the Internet.

Façade VIII will be shown in CELEBRATE!, an invitational exhibition curated by Linda Colsh for the National Quilt Museum’s 20th Anniversary next year, along with Façade II.

Façade II, 40 x 68 inches, ©2006

My first Façade piece was made in 2006. Since then, my thinking about the series has been refined somewhat, and I decided that my artist statement about this work needed to be updated. I view all of my statements as works in progress. Here’s my latest:

In this series, I explore ideas of time and transformation, inspired by the structural elements and seductive surfaces of old buildings and walls. An old wall tells a story, like a canvas upon which both nature and human beings play and leave their marks. Over the course of many years, layers of paint and graffiti are applied, only to be eroded by sun, rain, and wind. The result is a surface rich with texture and color.

I use the textile medium of fabric and stitch to impart a unique texture, both visual and literal, to my work. I want the work to carry a physical reminder of the artist’s presence, a visual diary of sorts. Patterning and design from the base fabrics interact with the stitching and my personal system of painting and mark-making to create a richly layered surface that captures the essence of my original inspiration.