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Nickolson, Anne M. Off the Edge, 1999

Information

Indianapolis resident Anne Nickolson received her bachelor of fine arts degree from Northern Illinois University in 1975 and her master of fine arts degree from Indiana University in 1978. She worked as a textile conservation technician in Indianapolis from 1998 to 2002, and was a visiting assistant professor of fine arts at IU from 2003 to 2006. She has been a guest lecturer at SOFA in Chicago, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the University of Kentucky in Lexington, the University of Louisville, Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia, and elsewhere. Since 1978 she has participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions throughout the United States and abroad.

Indianapolis resident Anne Nickolson received her bachelor of fine arts degree from Northern Illinois University in 1975 and her master of fine arts degree from Indiana University in 1978. She worked as a textile conservation technician in Indianapolis from 1998 to 2002, and was a visiting assistant professor of fine arts at IU from 2003 to 2006. She has been a guest lecturer at SOFA in Chicago, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the University of Kentucky in Lexington, the University of Louisville, Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia, and elsewhere. Since 1978 she has participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions throughout the United States and abroad.

  • Off the Edge, 1999
  • 64 1/4″ x 57 1/2″
  • Indianapolis Museum of Art
  • Keywords: textiles, wall hangings
  • Subjects: pieced and appliquéd cotton

Anne Nickolson writes on her Web site (www.annemckenzienickolson.com), “My interest in working with fabric goes back to my early childhood when I learned to sew, embroider, knit, and crochet. . . . I have been a practicing, exhibiting fiber artist since 1977. My early work involved pieced, appliquéd, embroidered works involving dyeing and airbrushing. A natural evolution of ideas led to layered, pieced, and appliquéd pieces which became quilts in 1997. Art quilts have been my main body of work since that time.” Off the Edge is a pieced and appliquéd work. In such works, Nickolson says, the artist “explores the relationship between the textile surface and pictorial illusion. . . . The awareness of the texture and the construction of the textile is in constant tension with the illusion of space and perspective.” Nickolson uses a computer to create the basic composition of a work, but makes the final color selections when she begins “interacting with the cloth.”

Some Points To Consider

  • Help students compare this quilt to quilts made by earlier Hoosiers. Ask: What has changed and what is the same? (Art 4.1.1)
  • Ask students to describe the style of this quilt. Is it traditional or contemporary? (Art 4.2.3)
  • Ask students to speculate about the meaning of the title Off the Edge. What is off the edge? How did the artist use elements such as line, color, texture, shapes, and space to illustrate the title? (Art 4.3.2)