Left: For
Visitors,
2009,
Schulze machine-quilted
silk and paper that she
altered through collage
and a glue-transfer
process. The piece is
44 by 84 inches.
Right: In Schulze’s
hands, familiar playing
cards become other-
worldly portals. From
the top, clockwise, these
8-5-by-6-inch collages
arc
’Night Two, The Good
Tmrs,
and
The Queen’s.
Left:
Repose,
2004
quilted silk, paper
24 x 24 in.
landscape, filled with light and color.
Schulze flourished in this land of en-
ticing vistas. Everywhere she went she met
artists - she recalls being especially inspired
by a neighbor who made a painting a day
- and she recognized herself as one.
Though she’d been sewing for years, she
began exploring fabric in the same way
she’d explored Chicago: trying anything,
making beelines, taking detours. Her com-
pass? “I just made what felt good to me.”
She was drawn to transparent materials,
foreshadowing the sheer silk and two-sided
quilts to come; her appliqué work became
increasingly complex collage.
Fast-forward to the present, and the
journey Schulze launched in 1967 continues
undeterred. In addition to the mixed-media
quilts for which she is best known, the
Sunnyvale, California-based artist also
claims in her repertoire collage, photo-
graphy, altered books, sculpture, and sev-
eral volumes of poetry. She regularly leads
classes, workshops, and lectures around
the world. In 2010, the San Jose Museum
of Quilts & Textiles organized a 40-year
retrospective of her work, “Poetic License:
The Art of Joan Schulze.” A richly illus-
trated 168-page book of the same name
was published in conjunction with the
exhibit, mapping landmarks in a career
defined by daring.
From her first explorations of creative
needlework, Schulze sought to bring
together the techniques and materials that
would best express her singular intentions.
Besides using floss and fabric, she recycled
her dresses and employed paper, panty-
hose, currency, plastic, and dryer lint.
fcb/marn american craft 065
