Visual Artist Sarah FitzSimons will be showcasing one of her sculptures on campus, a fabric quilt of the ocean.
From Feb. 12 to March 6 in the Norick-Hulsey Gallery in Norick Art Center, FitzSimons’ fabric sculpture, “Pacific Quilt,” will be open for viewing during Gallery hours. FitzSimons also will be speaking on campus about her sculpture to discuss her creative process and work as an artist.
FitzSimons is a visual artist specializing in sculptures, currently teaching as an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She said she worked on the quilt over the course of five years after moving back to Wisconsin and missing being near the ocean. FitzSimons’s artwork has a focus on the relationship between civilization and nature, something visible in her depiction of the Pacific Ocean in the sculpture.
“Pacific Quilt” is a fabric sculpture, a quilt measuring 21 by 24 feet depicting the Pacific Ocean. The lines and seams of the quilt are reflective of the flow of currents. Each square inch is representative of 25 square miles of ocean, and the stitching throughout the quilt is an accurate map of the Pacific Ocean.
Heather Lunsford, director of the School of Visual Art, said the sculpture will be laid on the floor instead of a bed in the exhibit.
“It is a fabric sculpture that is going to be installed on the floor of the gallery. It could be used for functional bedding, but is much larger than a bed. If it were in a bedroom it would cover the bed and flow off the bed and consume its space. Here, it’s going to be laid out, almost like a topographic map. Its stitching actually mirrors the topography of the ocean that we can’t see, because it’s hidden under the water,” Lunsford said.
Marty Gibson, visual arts senior, said they have worked through a variety of mediums, but don’t have much experience with fiber arts, the medium in which “Pacific Quilt” is constructed.
“I feel like it will be really interesting to see that up close and in person, because I’ve never seen a big scale fiber art piece before. It’ll be cool to see that,” Gibson said.
Gibson also said they would like to see more large-scale sculptures featured in the Gallery, from fabric sculptures like FitzSimons’s quilt to ceramic sculptures and pieces.
FitzSimons will be giving a talk at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 13 in the main studio of Norick, where she will be discussing her work on “Pacific Quilt.” The official opening will be 5-7 p.m. Feb. 14 in the Gallery in Norick. Lunsford said anyone curious to learn more about “Pacific Quilt”or FitzSimons’s other work should attend these events.
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