Dew I, Yoshiko Jinzenji

Episode 249 no date, Megan Young I’m David Cateforis with another Art Minute from the Spencer Museum of Art. Working from her studio, called the “Grass House,” in Bali, Indonesia, the Japanese-born quiltmaker Yoshiko Jinzenji draws inspiration from her natural surroundings. She crafted Dew I in 1999 using silk and cotton colored with natural plant dyes handmade by the artist. Similar to the other twelve quilts that Jinzenji gave to the Spencer in 2007, this quilt embodies her blending of traditional techniques with modern innovation, such as her use of bamboo-extracted white dye. Measuring approximately six feet square, Dew I presents an expanse of quilted white fabric accented with a few lines of red along the quilt’s edges and one stretching horizontally just below the left center. Set in a few inches from the edges of the quilt and echoing its overall square shape is a narrow band of white scattered with small rectangles, diamonds, and lines in varying colors, placed like notes on a musical score. These elements enliven the minimalist aesthetic of the overall composition, also softened through the organic nature of fibers and the hand-made quality of quilting. With thanks to Megan Young for her text, from the Spencer Museum of Art, I’m David Cateforis.