Gabriele was born in Northern Germany where her mother was a seamstress. As a young child she would play around the sewing machine trying to stay out of the way of the treadle. Fast forward and two careers later, Gabriele finds herself in Central Florida where her interest in fabric is rekindled. Matching seams and exact piecing were the first efforts in textile art but they quickly gave way to an organic raw-edge approach to art quilting. Gabriele was delighted to learn that her great grandfather was a dyer of fabric by profession as she has also discovered the excitement of using dyes and surface design to create her own fabrics. The inspiration for Gabriele’s pieces may spring from her imagination, be based on personal experiences or be influenced by social matters that affect our lives.
Gabriele’s artwork has been exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the United States as well as in Europe and Australia and can be found in private collections.
What energizes you about being a quilt artist?
Fabric and fiber are wonderful materials to use in expressing myself as an artist. Much like a blank canvas, the unadulterated cotton is just waiting to be transformed using dyes, paints, inks and lately through cyanotype chemicals. In addition I can fold and manipulate the fabrics to create additional patterns. Creating the raw material, the fabric to work with, is what really energizes me. It is the process of creating and seeing the transformation that will often lead to the inspiration for new work.
My career for many years was in Early Childhood education. Young children are free in their creativity. For them it is all about the process of making art, of playing with the materials at hand.Their freedom of expression becomes restrained when we give them colouring books. Suddenly there is a ‘right’ way to make art, staying within the lines and using the appropriate colours for trees and sky. I may be all grown up but I still enjoy the process and prefer a blank length of cotton to start with.
How would you describe your style, and how has it evolved?
My style would best be described as embracing serendipity. I am drawn to the techniques that often give unpredictable or imperfect results. Deconstructed screen printing with thickened dyes lets me explore color and texture. Low immersion dyeing and ice dyeing add variety in the way color is laid down. Most recently I have been exploring using cyanotype chemicals on fabric. The treated fabric is then exposed to sunlight to create a photogram. Of course there are many different ways to play with the process including introducing moisture or adding a sprinkling of common household chemicals. I also vary the time of day or length of exposure of the fabric. It is in pushing the boundaries of what is possible that I play in creating the fabrics that will be incorporated in my pieces.
What role do materials and color play in your work?
Much of my recent work gravitates toward botanical images. This is partially driven by the process of using plants from my garden or gathered on walks in my cyanotyping. I admit though that the rich blues that result from the process keep me coming back and exploring what else can be done. I’ve done some indigo dyeing which was satisfying but the color range was limited. With cyanotype I am able to play with moisture, light and shadow as well as time to manipulate color.
The real fun comes with combining the different techniques. Layering and masking over previously dyed or painted fabrics introduces color into the cyan-blues. Using raw edge appliqué the pieces come together.
I saw some lovely dolls you made online. How do the dolls factor into your work and exhibitions?
Several years ago a quilter friend introduced me to art dolls. Dolls have 3 dimensional details and expressive faces. I fell down that rabbit hole! Using mostly thrift store repurposed fabrics and odds and ends I embarked on art doll journey. Interestingly I was watching the tv series Game of Thrones at about that same time. My dolls created during that period were characters pulled from my imagination but influenced by the GOT world. There was Kevyn, the itinerant fabric merchant and Pennywyze the court jester among other characters who have found new homes with collectors. Dolls cannot be rolled up and stored on a pool noodle so storage capacity limits my doll making. A few favorite dolls remain on display in my home.
What is the springboard for a new series, and do your series end?
I feel like most of my pieces are on a continuum and slowly evolve from one to the next. Yet within that continuum there are very definite series. So looking back I can identify a series, but there is not a fixed, deliberate starting point. In most cases it is a change in the materials I am using to create the fabric more so than the subject matter. Last year I started using my cyanotyped fabrics in a new way which led to new work.
What are the main messages in your work?
If I had to claim that there was a message running through my work I would say that it is definitely ‘Hope’. I have hope for this world. We are more alike than we realize and we have a responsibility to each other and to this world. In 2014 I had a piece in SAQA’s exhibit Food for Thought. My piece, What’s for Dinner, was about poverty and hunger. We have the means in this country to feed everyone and my hope is that one day we will figure out a way to care for each other. I was also fortunate to have a piece tour with SAQA’s Forced to Flee exhibit. My piece, Will Be The Next Day Better, was a compilation of Syrian refugee’s children art. These children had suffered and witnessed unthinkable horrors which they documented in their art. My hope is that by sharing the art images people will grasp how horrible war is to everyone but especially to young children. I live in the hope that we can protect our youngest from the atrocities of war. One of my more recent pieces, Bothered, has palm fronds over a background of chaotic reds and oranges with words embedded like fear and freedom. This piece is a response to the chaos and fear of the coronavirus pandemic. My hope is that nature can provide hope and solace from all of the unrest that viral fears cause. I find comfort and easing of tensions when I am out in the natural world. I think that is why I gravitate to botanical images and use a preponderance of blues and greens in my work.
