Exhibition
Drawing from two separate travelling exhibitions that explored the abiding power of love on the one hand, and images of nature on the other, From the Heart celebrated the innovative use of textiles through a varied display of quilts from both local and regional artists and artisans.
Shedding light on the expressive potential of quilting, the exhibition sought to inspire local practitioners, with designs that incorporated traditional imagery and craft making techniques, as well as contemporary reinterpretations that stretched the boundaries of conventional methods of quilt making—among them Marylin Henrion’s Evening in Byzantium. The centrepiece of the exhibition featured a collaborative work commissioned by founding Director Leslie Bigelman, the Cayman Quilters’ Love Quilt –an artwork jointly executed by sixteen artisans that featured individually designed squares illustrating various aspects of Caymanian culture and heritage.
From the Heart was on view at the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands’ Alexander Place location from 14 February –17 March 2001.
About the Artist
Cayman Quilters
est. 1993
Cayman Quilters is a collective of local quilters dedicated to continuing the long tradition of craft in the Cayman Islands and raising funds for charitable organisations. The group was started in 1993 at the suggestion of Monica Gore, wife of former Cayman Islands Governor Michael Gore, and has met weekly in one another’s homes since that time. Past and present members include Debbie Calder, Maureen Collins, Carmen Connolly, Lucinda Cruikshank, Geraldine Duckworth, Doreen Gray, Marilyn Henrion, Glenys James, Sandra Joseph, Julia Kandiah, Pam de Lisser, Judy Massie, Meg Paterson, Suzanne Smith, Jilly Stone, Val Strang, Sybil Watler, and Jill Wood. Their work is in the collections of the Cayman Islands National Museum and NGCI, and was featured in Art of the Cayman Islands, the Islands’ first formal art history (Scala Fine Art Publishers Ltd., Fall 2016). A special commission, Creation, which won The McCoy Prize in 2004, hangs in the Baptist Church in Little Cayman.