This is SAQA Europe/Middle East: The Reps

Uta Lenk (Germany)

I have been a SAQA member ever since I had a solo exhibition at the abilmente in Vicenza and Gul LaPorte recruited me. Being a SAQA member has been a wonderful enrichment of my life. As we are currently living in a rather remote part of south-eastern Germany, the international contacts have kept me connected to the world, and given me some opportunity to travel.

In my quilting, entering the juried shows according to calls for entry has given me new impulses. For example, “Beyond Comfort” was an exhibition with a high degree of challenge for me. And I was lucky, two pieces of mine were accepted and traveled with the show for over two years.

Yellow Line, 2010

Illuminated, 2010

More lately, “text messages” has started me on a new path, and I am currently working on and thinking about several quilts that are dealing with textile interpretations of various kinds of texts.

o(rounD)moon,   2013

This partcular quilt is a textile interpretation of one of my favorite poems by e.e.cummings and is currently traveling with the show. Several other quilts have followed, and even more are waiting in the scenes.

Before that, I was intensively involved in my series “Play of Lines”, and two pieces from this series were included in the exhibition “Color Improvisations”, curated by Nancy Crow.

Play of Lines VIII (2009)

For a while I thought “Play of Lines” was a series that had reached conclusion, but new ideas have been calling recently, so there may be more, as inspiration comes.

Just a few weeks ago I was one in the opening of a three person exhibition in the UNESCO World Heritag Site Fagus Werk in Alfeld, Germany. This building was the first building by Walter Gropius after he set up as an architect, and we chose “Inspiration Bauhaus” as the topic for the exhibition. Intensive studies of Bauhaus philosophy, Bauhaus artists and the different arts that were practised in the Bauhaus during its short existence have strongly influenced my series “Shapes”, of which many pieces are now on display in Alfeld, until December 19^th.

Shapes 8, 2013

In my quilts I use my own hand-dyed fabrics (which I also sell in a small business, mostly through a fabric club), and I combine hand- and machine stitching as much as possible. If the days had more hours I probably would rely entirely on hand stitching, but as there are only 24 hours in the day, machine stitching is sometimes the appropriate mode to get something finished.

I write a blog in English, and a slightly different one in German.

Being a (co-)representative for the region Europe/Middle East has given me the opportunities to meet many new people from all over the region, and other parts of the world as well. It has been an interesting time, working with Elisabeth, who has now resigned from her post, and I am looking forward to working together with Maggi, who is just now beginning her first term.