“EXTRA CRAZY QUILT”

“Extra Crazy Quilt” is made out of waste products that I normally use to clean my paint brushes while painting. This includes scraps of loose fabric, paper towels and toilet paper. I have always loved watching my rags get more and more colorful as my painting progresses, and this quilt is a celebration of art making as a process in itself. I began construction on the original quilt in June of 2024 and completed it in November. I want to engage with the idea of process and product, with process taking center stage and the product as a side character. My goal is to give the process of creating its own character. As a visual artist, I love working with collage and mixed media.

I also want to use this project to highlight the byproducts that come from art making. As much as I love to make art, it is hard to face the amount of waste that comes with it. I often find myself admiring the patterns that my dirty brush marks make on the rag and feel bad throwing them away. Being a painter, I go through paint bottles, brushes, and canvas very quickly, which I do not think about while I am creating normally. I want this short film to show others that the waste they create can be beautiful in its own right and have a second life. In engaging with this concept of reuse, we as users and consumers will hopefully be more comfortable talking about sustainability and shifting to more eco-friendly processes while in the creative space.

“Extra Crazy Quilt” was created for my Honors Thesis project during my culminating semester at Northeastern University. The work has been shown in three galleries, and will continue to show in public spaces for audiences to interact with and enjoy.