African American Quilts translated to Rugs
Photo by Frances B Johnson from the Library of Congress (1899)
Well the cotton gin was invented in 1793 and this photograph I dug up showed African Americans were learning how to weave quilts and rugs as early as back then however I also felt a lack of representation in that area.
So I decided to do a latch hook rug in the style of African American quilts. The first thing I noted was the pattern of having large interconnecting patches by artists like Monin Brown and Hattie “Strawberry” Mitchell below. Simultaneously, I noted their selective use of colors on the spectrum of red such as purple or yellow so as to make their artworks really pop since cotton wasn't considered a high form of acceptable art back then.
This color profile is something I decided to copy in reverse because I felt there was such a lack of pieces to showcase these beautiful colors in the style of an African American art piece.
Next I thought about my inspirations for the piece. The first concept that came to mind was the deep south and the mountains. The reason being that mountains symbolized escape or arrival as most famously named by Martin Luther King Jr. in his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech. In that speech he talks as if reaching the mountain is not the end, but merely the beginning as he has “seen the promised land”. What he meant by promised could be summarized as equal rights or freedom for African Americans. That idea of reaching freedom ended up being married with the idea of planting seeds and trees for future generations. The dead yet giant tree at the top is meant to represent the African Americans who came before the current generation who weathered the harsh weather and allowed new life to blossom.
