’2006 / Machine-pieced and hand-quilted
cotton and obi silk / 72 1/2 x 63″ / collection
of the artist / photo by luke Mulks and
diane pedersen, courtesy c & t publishing
Nadelstern’s career-long concentration on
kaleidoscopic imagery has allowed her to
mine similarities and differences that are only
revealed as an artist delves deeper. the title of
this quilt defines an inversion of Nadelstern’s
usual vision, as the circle becomes the negative
space rather than the foreground. the structure
is based upon an octagon with eight wedges
that is built into a square through the addition
of four corner triangles. the patterned fabric in
a restrained palette is concentrated in the narrow
center of each black triangle: Nadelstern tricks
the eye into following these straight lines
before discovering the circles embedded into
the construction.’
From catalogue: april 21–september 13, 2009
American Folk Art Museum, New York
Stacy C. Hollander, Senior Curator Kaleidoscope Quilts
the Art of Paula Nadelstern
