The Ancient Mother Quilt 2022

‘The Before Times’, Wangaratta Art Gallery (VIC) 2022

A group exhibition featuring Phong Chi Lai, Tara Glastonbury, Caroline Hadley, Diana Vandeyar, Jessica Wheelahan and Lorena Uriarte.

The term before times dates back centuries and has a long association with imagined worlds and apocalyptic stories. Recently, the before times has taken on new significance as our lives changed dramatically and we fondly remember times before Covid-19.

Six artists have used this phrase as a starting point, some taking their practices back to basics or celebrating the return of inspiration and materials while others explore types of memory or envisage a dystopian future that might await us.

Artwork statement:

‘We are not of today or of yesterday. We are of an immense age.’

Karl Jung, 1959

"Do we come to being at the moment of our birth or do we come from a time before? This is a question Phong Lai has explored in his work as he witnesses babies born within his close circle of friends. It is a question that has been asked by many, across all cultures."

quilt top - 100% reclaimed natural fibres, hand dyed, plant dyes.

quilt backing/batting/binding - 100% re-claimed natural fibres, commercial cotton batting.

plant dyes - Punica granatum, Eucalyptus mix, Acacia catchu, tannin mix, Phormium tenax and Persea americana, Reseda luteola

Machine pieced, hand quilted, hand embroidered and appliquéd.

130 x 170 cm