ARTIST STATEMENT
Coffee ink smells terrific as it dries! I have been creating a lot of different ways to represent my age (48) in quilt blocks and patterns. I was inspired by the shape of the deconstructed used coffee filter papers. I carved several blocks and began experimenting with making ink from coffee. I dyed the silk-linen blend with coffee filters directly and then printed it with a self-prepared ink of distilled coffee and gum arabica. This quilt was machine quilted with silk thread, with a faced silk binding hand stitched with fine brown silk thread. The canvas batting has also been dyed with coffee filters and shows through behind the silk.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Chandra Wu has formal education in geology and physics which impacts her view of the world and inspires a lot of balance and design in her art. She enjoys the abstract elements of maps, sense of place, and their connections to representation in the layers of textiles. This impacts her use of materials, including found and reusable textiles in an effort to think about sustainability. She feels that improvisation is a novel way to implement her “engineering” brain as a problem solving whether working with complex or oddly fitting patchwork pieces or determining how quilting can block, complement, or highlight the elements of a quilt. She has lived in Coast Salish lands for most of her life, currently residing in Seattle, WA.
© Chandra Wu