Eliza Brewster

You cannot just walk past one of Eliza Brewster’s works. The photos are too stark; the emotions too raw. The implied narrative may be frustratingly enigmatic, but the colors and imagery command attention. A combination of printing, appliqué, and stitch ground the work in the quilt tradition, but the messages are powerful socio-political commentary.

My formal training was in printmaking and etching from 1965 to the early 1970s. When I was in school, the etchings we made used nitric acid, kerosene, benzine, and oil-based inks. Then I had a baby. Using these chemicals was out of the question.

The 1971 show at the Whitney Museum of American Art in Manhattan Abstract Design in American Quilts was a real eye opener. The tactile nature of those quilts is what really struck me. The three-dimensional aspect of the quilting made me want to touch them, to run my fingers along their surfaces. Of course this was impossible, but it is one of the reasons I quilt by hand. It’s a wonderful and flexible medium.

I think that I was one of the very early members of Studio Art Quilt Associates. I still have one of the first SAQA Journals. SAQA was a major influence on my

below: Orange Quilt 24 x 43 inches, 2010 with detail (left)

28 x 20 inches, 2012

above: Define Yourself 17 x 30 inches, 2008 right: If It’s Legitimate Rape... 25 x 24 inches, 2014

career: seeing what other art quilters were doing and getting into SAQA exhibitions and other art quilt venues to show my work.

I work spontaneously. I don’t plan my compositions ahead of time or make sketches. I do not know what will develop until the project starts to take shape. I use images from many sources, very often from unusual European magazines and lately from photographs I take with my cellphone and then edit. When I have several images and/or texts, I pull them all together using circles. Sometimes I start with a circle just to get me going. If I use color, it will usually be a warm palette, reds and oranges. They just seem to fit my ideas better.

Everything I use in the process is water based. I use a plastic paper called Yupo for my plate. It is strong but can be cut with scissors for interesting shapes, again mostly circles. Using stencils and acrylic medium in various textures, I make the printing plate,

which when dry will be printed on my etching press. I lay a piece of fabric over the inked plate and run it through the press. Now I have an image on my fabric.

Next I find a photograph or use one of my own that I think will work with the image I have just printed. I put this photograph, or sometimes text, in my inkjet printer and print it on the type of transfer paper usually used for printing pictures or text on t-shirts. I also run organza through my printer and then glue or sew it onto the quilt top. Using a very hot iron, I press the image from the transfer paper over the top of the image that I printed on the fabric from my etching

22 x 35 inches, 2014

press. Now I basically have the frame- work for my composition, and I work on adding textures or paint or ink from markers to complete the composition.

Much of my recent work is commen- tary on social and political events. My favorite piece [so far] is a quilt called The Migration. Recent horrific events inspired this piece. I am sickened by the cowardly reactions of some of our gov- ernors who vow to turn back women and children who seek safety from crossing their borders, [and yes, I mean you, Greg Abbot].

I’m really trying to affect the thoughts and ideas of people who view my work, but I want my pieces to be enigmatic so people can take from them what they will.

34 x 19 inches