ARTIST STATEMENT
My geometric installations, sculptures, paintings, textiles, and quilts stem from my ongoing research of American quilt history. I learned how to sew as a child from my mother and borrow traditions from quilt making using improvisation, contrast, repeat patterns, and shifts in scale while incorporating colors, textures, and structures representative of the natural surroundings in South Florida. My continuing interests and research include American architecture, Folk-Art Quilts, geometric patterns in nature, and geometric-abstract artists from the mid to late twentieth century. Specific influences include Gees Bend quilters, Elizabeth Murray, Monir Shahroudy, Carmen Herrera, Helen Frankenthaler, Gego, and Eva Rothchild.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Regina Jestrow is a New York-born, Miami-based visual artist, from Italian-American heratage. Her mother taught her how to sew when she was a child, and she’s has utilized these skills throughout her practice. When she moved to Miami, she taught herself how to quilt and crochet to cope with homesickness. Jestrow’s artwork explores her ongoing interests in women’s history and American quilt pattern traditions.
Jestrow’s research has led her to develop a body of work that includes painting, drawings, textiles, fibers, and sculptural installations. Selected solo projects include “Treble Flow” at Oolite Arts Walgreens Windows (2020), “Forms of The Everglades” at Miami-Dade College Homestead Library (2016), “Linens” at Hollywood Art & Culture Center (2015), and “Drawings” at 6th Street Container, Miami, Florida (2014). Selected group exhibitions include “Materiality” at Bridge Red Studios and Project Space, Miami, FL (2021) “Deering Spring Contemporary” at the Deering Estate, Miami, Florida (2020), “Reclaimed Landscapes” at Harvest Project, Miami, Florida (2019), and “More Women Painting”, at Design Sublime, Miami, Florida (2017). Jestrow has been awarded artist residencies at The Deering Estate (2015), National Park Service Artist in Residence in the Everglades (AIRIE) (2014), and The Studios of Key West (2012). Awarded grants include The Ellies, Miami’s visual arts awards, presented by Oolite Arts (2021). Artist Access Grant, Miami-Dade County and FUNdarte (2021), Miami-Dade Artists Support! (MÁS!) Grant (2020), and the Betancourt-Latorre Foundation Visual Artist Relief Fund Covid-19 (2020).
© Regina Jestrow