A brand-new exhibit at the Lexington Park Library Art Gallery is set to open on Monday, June 7th, 2021. Andi Cullins has waited 60 years to do what she has always wanted to do! Quilting has long been on her list of skills to learn and over the past few years she has done just that – in a big sort of way! Our featured artist considers herself to be the “Grandma Moses” of fiber art, specializing in larger scale pieces with intricate themes and meticulously detailed craftsmanship.
Using commercial fabrics, globally sourced ethnic prints, her own hand-dyed materials as well as reclaimed and recycled western materials, Andi has developed a unique process to handcraft larger-than-life quilts. Each one has been born of a concept initially created in our artist’s mind – an original product of her colorful imagination, often including interpretations of nature and the world at large.
Methods used by Andi to transform her concepts into reality include traditional quilting, raw-edge appliqué, fabric mosaics, and collage. Fabrications consist of an array of carefully selected items such as various materials, strings, ribbons, buttons, cheesecloth, beads, tulle, lace, suede and leather in conjunction with other recycled products.
Ms. Cullins brings to the table a uniquely bi-racial, African American point of view. Her sizable quilts include re-imaginations of iconic Christian themes as well as familiar/ ordinary images and natural phenomena. In reflection of her own mixed heritage, Andi often utilizes African wax prints, Aboriginal prints, and other diverse materials which she seamlessly blends with western-style fabric.
“My objective is to use African and ethnic prints in a way that ‘normalizes’ them within the context of the images, as a part of the whole rather than as an indicia of ethnicism itself. I draw on the typically intense color pallets and patterns of ethnic fabrics to provide excitement for the eye and to convey emotion.”
Andi Cullins’ fascinating exhibit opens on June 7th and will run through June 30th. Admission to the Gallery, located near the main desk of the Lexington Park Library is free, please visit the St. Mary’s County Library website for current hours of operation and COVID-19 guidelines: www.stmalib.org.
The library is located at: 21677 FDR Blvd, Lexington Park, MD, 20653
Phone number: (301) 863-8188
The in-house Library Gallery pays tribute to the late Candy Cummings who had a vision to create a community exhibit space for the display and appreciation of the works of local artists.
Links of interest:
Facebook: “2nd Life Quilters Collection”
( https://www.facebook.com/2nd-Life-Quilters-Collection-106746890956087)
More about Candy Cummings:
(https://www.stmarysartscouncil.com/candycummings-informationpage)
Submitted by St. Mary’s County Arts Council. Photos provided by the artist.