Maryland gallery exhibiting Hindu kolam quilts
LAUREL, MD – “Pieces as Prayers: Kolam and Kaleidoscope Quilts,” art quilts by Gaithersburg, MD, artist Lauren Kingsland, are displaying in the Himmelfarb Gallery at Tai Sophia Institute until August 27.
Symmetry and reflection speak to our fundamental yearning for balance and order in us and in the world. Kingsland's quilts explore the beauty of this balance through the Indian Kolam tradition and the magic of peeking into a kaleidoscope.
While traveling in Tamil Nadu, India, in January 2008, Kingsland was inspired by the beautiful Kolam designs drawn in rice flour daily on the ground by the women of the region. The Hindu notion of Kolam is that the act of creating the design is the prayer. The dots represent the challenges in our lives and the line is how we choose to create beauty around those difficulties. This meditative or devotional practice is termed by some as “painted prayers.” These quilts are based on her photographs, authentic design source books purchased in India, and research conducted in books, online, and through interviews.
“Kolam represents for me the universal human impulse to create beauty and order. Please enjoy these pieces that, like us all, are simultaneously both the same and unique,” says Ms. Kingsland. “While the inspiration for the design comes from India, the materials and techniques are those of the American quilt maker.”
Kingsland's kaleidoscope quilts in the exhibit reflect impressions of memorable moments – a glimpse of a wild whale, raising a voice in song, the news of the space shuttle Challenger explosion – in another expression of creating beauty from the stuff of life. Her collection of kaleidoscopes and friendships with kaleidoscope makers provide ongoing inspiration. Artworks from the show will be on sale through the Meeting Point bookstore, which is adjacent to the gallery.
Beautiful designs can be seen during the kolam festival and in Tamil Nadu it is celebrated. The above designs and some of the traditional ones.
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