Saturday, May 31, 2014

Lost heritage

Lost heritage

Although this isn't quite finished, and can't be till I go home to New Zealand, the bones of the piece are complete. The top and left of the diagonal represents Christchurch in 2009, and the bottom right what it was like in 2013. There is so much space, but that is not a good thing. We have lost virtually all of the historic buildings in the centre, and in their place we have rubble and carparks.

I plan to write along the roads the names of many of the iconic buildings that have been lost. And cut away the backing behind the rubble areas. These are printed on Extravorganza, actual photos of rubble. The intention is that they look transparent and devoid of meaning.

I got seduced by some Alexander Henry fabrics I happened upon. Using mainly rectangles gives the impression of blocks and buildings. The small amounts of red and maroon give more of an idea of the scale of actual buildings.

Christchurch is called the Garden City, so the green areas are typical of the parks and reserves that are there, and of course survived unscathed.

Here is the finished quilt, with the names of the Grade 1 buildings that have been lost. There are many more Grade 2 ones. 





4 comments:

  1. A sad story, beautifully rendered.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I always feel sad when historical sites of buildings get lost. The difference between now and then is quite visible in your quilt. I hope to see the finished quilt when you are back home.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've only been to Christchurch once, many years ago, and remember being struck by it's greenness and beauty. You've made a really clever and thoughtful interpretation of the 'before' and 'after'. Your use of colour is great. I like this piece - it makes you think!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your idea to divide the piece diagonally is very clever as it leads your eye from nearly the bottom left to the top right. Leaving the bottom left square undivided, makes you wonder and keeps your attention.
    I like the way you have used the Extravorganza to represent the rubble.
    I really hope to see this quilt finished.

    ReplyDelete