My work is an adventure. It involves fabric I have painted and printed. Having developed a collage construction process, I can focus on the concepts and the images that energize and inspire me.  Themes that interact and appear in most of my work include a reverence for nature, positive human spirit, and the concepts of house and home as safety and love and strength. A big thank you nod goes out to the women in my family who taught me about working with textiles and fibers.

Painting and printing on fabrics with dyes and paints, cutting, piecing, appliqué, collage, quilting, and embellishing are the techniques I use, and intuition plays a strong part in the process of building my art works.  Visual or actual references to traditional quilt making often appear in my work to honor the women and the history of this medium.

These pieces are all collage constructions. They are made with my hand painted and printed cotton fabrics, which are applied to stretched canvas with acrylic matte medium.  Over this I add lines and details with oil sticks and acrylic inks.

I have been creating art quilts and mixed media collage constructions since 1987, after sixteen years as an art teacher in public education.  My work has appeared in many national juried exhibitions, including Quilted Constructions: the Spirit of Design (American Folk Art Museum, NYC), Quilt National (Athens, Ohio), and Visions (Quilt San Diego).  My work has been part of invitational exhibitions throughout the USA and overseas, and commissioned works are in both private and public places, notably several One Percent for Art commissions in Maine.  I’ve taught workshops nationally, including at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine. I also offer workshops in my own studio. Lots of fun!

A number of my works are published in books and magazines.  Two of my pieces are in the permanent collections of major national museums: the Renwick Gallery (Smithsonian Institution) and the Museum of Arts and Design in NYC.

PANDEMONIUM came about as a result of my caged and trapped emotions during these past months of the coronavirus.  It has a dark and scary mood, in contrast to my other work, which is mostly very colorful and cheerful. 

I don't think I shall ever retire!

nkempers-cullen@comcast.net

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