"Kathy Greenwood-a Stitch in time"
The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum in Hadley hosted “Kathy Greenwood: A Stitch in Time,” an exhibition of collage and textile works that cross familiar materials and patterns with contemporary sensibilities. This exhibition was housed in the Museum’s Corn Barn from June 1st to July 31st, 2016.
The objects and images that populate this work allude to stories, relationships and observations of daily living. The ephemera of home – heirlooms, implements and cast-offs – can invoke personal memories as well as conjecture about the lives of others.
In her collage series, Greenwood imposes patterns upon familiar surfaces whose associations infuse their subjects. For example, what first appear to be quilt blocks, on closer inspection are actually salvaged family relics - check stubs that span three decades, or vintage recipe cards stitched together with paint and staples.
Traditional braided rag rugs were made out of discarded clothing and household textiles. The artist draws on this practice in the works seen here, composed of her own family's garments – the ones too worn out or ugly to give away. Like people or memories, these shreds are twined and stitched together to form vivid patterns that transcend the sorry state of the raw material.
Kathy Greenwood received her MFA in Textiles from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her work has been featured in group and solo exhibitions both regionally and nationally. Recent presentations include Brushed With Reality at Porter Contemporary in Brooklyn, NY, Contemporary Sculpture at Chesterwood in Stockbridge, MA, and National Trompe L'eoil Exhibition at the John F. Peto Studio Museum in Island Heights, NJ. Greenwood resides in upstate New York. For more information about Kathy Greenwood and her art please visit www.kathygreenwoodart.com.