This chapter is dedicated to showing examples of my fiber-art work. It includes some of my most recent work as well as some earlier pieces. Its purpose is to let you look at my art as a whole and perhaps reflect on changes in style, content, and technique over time.
The work I do today has evolved since 1998, when I made my first traditional quilt. A variety of themes and a range of techniques led to the first fiber-art map I made in 2001, called City Grid II. Looking at it today, I realize this quilt represents a breakthrough and records the point when I started to use fabric collage. From that period forward, I think I was able to create work that is recognizable as mine. I hope you will appreciate what you see in this chapter as part of my desire to make work that reflects an ongoing dialogue between maps, quilting, and the architectural way of designing.
City Grid II by Valerie S. Goodwin 2001, 39˝ × 46˝ in the private collection of Peter Stone Photo by Richard Brunck
This quilt reflects on the interactive patterns and densities in a city grid and is the first fiber-art map in which I was able to be expressive using fabric collage.
Riverside Settlement by Valerie S. Goodwin 2003, 38˝ × 50˝ in the private collection of Sally and Mitch Seeley Photo by Richard Brunck
Riverside Settlement recalls an ancient network of interior and exterior places along a river’s edge. This quilt is important to me because it was my first work to be juried into an extremely competitive art quilt venue.
Villa Rotunda by Valerie S. Goodwin 2003, 12˝ × 12˝
Villa Rotunda is a map quilt based on a real place. It is a site plan of a Renaissance villa in northern Italy, designed Andrea Palladio, a famous sixteenth-century architect.
Labyrinth of the Hidden Goddess by Valerie S. Goodwin 2005, 23˝ × 35˝ in the private collection of Deborah LaGrasse
A map of a prehistoric goddess temple inspired this piece. It is one of the first maps in which I used layers of sheer fabric and paint to achieve a painterly quality.
City Grid III by Valerie S. Goodwin 2007, 32˝ × 44˝ Photo by Richard Brunck
Improvisation was a key process in the creation of this work. As I made a series of small, unrelated maps, I thought about how city patterns layer and overlap. In response to this idea, I merged them to create a larger work. To unify the underlying patterns, I applied a more dominant grid of streets across the surface.
City Grid IV by Valerie S. Goodwin 2007, 39˝ × 46˝
Photo by Richard Brunck
A rigid system of organization is the focus of this piece about an imaginary place. As an experiment with multiple views in one work, some of the details of the map are represented as if seen from above while others offer a side view.
Place of Happy Accidents by Valerie S. Goodwin 2008, 9˝ × 121⁄4˝ in the private collection of Joan Hughes
The title of this piece says it all—this map composition was totally improvised. For me, it represents what can happen when you embrace accidental clues about how artwork can evolve without any preconceived plan.
Collage City I by Valerie S. Goodwin 2008, 9˝ × 121⁄4˝
Photo by Richard Brunck
Collage City I was made as part of a series of small studies to test ideas for larger work. It juxtaposes various imaginary city maps and collages them into one composition.
Destinations by Valerie S. Goodwin 2008, 9˝ × 121⁄4˝ in the private collection of Mary McBride
Photo by Richard Brunck
A small study of an imaginary map with a focus on the use of nodes and ending points.
ArchiTEXTural cARTography by Valerie S. Goodwin 2008, 36˝ × 50˝
ArchiTEXTural cARTography is an invented map. It uses a rectilinear grid to play with the idea of roads that may not connect and hierarchical elements that play off each other.
African Burial Ground II by Valerie S. Goodwin 2009, 32˝ × 44˝
Fiber-art maps can tell a powerful story. The African Burial Ground, a real place in our country’s history and now a national monument, served as the inspiration for this work. The previously forgotten and hidden life of African slaves living in Lower Manhattan during Colonial times spoke to me as a vehicle for artistic examination.
The Economic Landscape by Valerie S. Goodwin 2009, 54˝ × 32˝
The design impetus for this work was the economic meltdown of 2008. The resulting fragmenting of our financial landscape is portrayed using expressive lines, shapes, and text.
Lay of the Land II by Valerie S. Goodwin 2010, 7´0˝ × 4´6˝ in the private collection of Jack Walsh
Photo by Richard Brunck
The quilt, a triptych, is a commission wherein I used a technique known as the composite drawing as a way to interweave graphic elements such as aerial views, plans, sections, and elevations in a cohesive and creative way. It was inspired by Watkins Glen, New York, its surrounding areas, and the site of a cottage owned by the client who commissioned the work. I was struck by the geography, the impact of the water features of the area, the artifacts, and the natural beauty of the site surrounding the cottage. My goal was to map a visual narrative of the architectural and geographic imprint of the landscape of the area.
A Tale of Two Campuses by Valerie S. Goodwin 2010, 4´ × 5´ in the private collection of Al and Johan Hagaman
Photo by Richard Brunck
The line that marks the Tallahassee Railroad represents the cultural, economic, and historical divisions in our city. To many, this demarcation represents the differences from one side of the track to the other. This piece maps these differences between two campuses in my hometown: Florida A&M University and Florida State University. It offers a compelling story, weaving together architectural plans, maps, and digital images.
Rattler Country by Valerie S. Goodwin 2012, 24˝ × 48˝
The campus where I teach architecture is the subject matter for this piece. This site is also included, but at a smaller scale, in A Tale of Two Campuses (page 79).
Scattered Archaeologies II by Valerie S. Goodwin 2012, 401⁄2˝ × 261⁄2˝
Photo by Ken Sharpe
This piece is derived from the organic language of the lines on a map of an Iron Age settlement. Architectural remnants such as a wall, columns, and buildings appear to move around the picture plane. These elements are grounded at the bottom with an image of the site at the base of the quilt. After making this piece, I was inspired to write this haiku:
Scattered ruins / melancholy evidence / of distant glories.
