PRESS RELEASE
Carnegie Arts Center
Turlock, California
MEDIA
CONTACT
Rebecca
Phillips Abbott
YVONNE PORCELLA: A
RETROSPECTIVE
January 18-March 14, 2012
DISTINGUISHED ARTIST 2012
A native Californian, Porcella was born in Watsonville, CA,
studied nursing at the University of San Francisco, graduated in 1958 and
worked part-time as an operating room nurse until 1979, and raised four
children with her husband, Bob.
All the while, she was also working as an artist.
Porcella’s gift for artistic expression began in the 1960s
with observations that the same fabrics were used again and again in the
garments people were wearing. She
began spinning her own thread, weaving her own fabrics, and making her own
garments, and was soon involved in the Conference of Northern California
Handweavers. In these early years,
Porcella was influenced by ethnic clothing, primarily from Guatemala and by pieced
and embroidered textiles from Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. In 1972 she had her first exhibition of
weavings and wearable art. In 1977
she published Five Ethnic Patterns, followed by an ethnic pattern book Plus
Five then Pieced Clothing in 1980 and by Pieced Clothing Variations in
1981. More publications would
follow, including Yvonne Porcella: Art & Inspirations, published in 1998.
Her shift from weaving to quiltmaking began when she started
to make garments out of patchwork. In 1979 she attended the West Coast
Quilter's Conference and by the following year she had completely stopped
weaving. It was a pivotal moment,
so much so that she can tell you the date and time she last wove: 28 April 1980 at 8:30 in the
morning! By 1981, she had created
"Takoage," her first art quilt which was later acquired by the
Smithsonian Institution for its Renwick Gallery, located across the street from
the White House in Washington, DC.
It was a promising start for Porcella who rapidly emerged as a visionary
force artistically and in the art quilt movement as a whole. As founder of the Studio Art Quilts Association and President of the Board of Directors, she worked tirelessly in
those early years to establish art quilting as an artistic genre in its own
right.
 |
| Takoage, 1981 |
Yvonne Porcella’s art quilts are known for their bold
originality as well as for their intricate narratives which inevitably treat
the experiences of everyday life with a great deal of energy, substance, and
nearly always humor. Waiting for
Pink Linoleum, 2001, laments the lack of an arts center in Modesto. At the time this quilt was made, it
appeared there would be no funding for building what later became the Gallo
Center for the Arts.
 |
| Waiting for Pink Linoleum, 2001 |
In it two figures can be seen running from the prospect of funding an arts center. A vaudevillian hook at the center helps to propel their flight. There is as well a subtle poke at the absence of the visual arts, in view of the prominence of the musical clef. The visual arts were surrendered early in the preliminary discussions involving the arts center. In this image, bold colors divide the quilt on the diagonal. One senses that the figure to the right is moving extremely quickly out of the image frame to the right while the figure to the left is flustered and running in the opposite direction. Form and color are merged here for a sophisticated artistic statement that takes life on its own terms and finds all the joy there is to find in it.
 |
| Early Weavings, 1970s |
As a retrospective exhibit, this exhibit includes works
representing distinct sensibilities in Porcella’s artistic output for a rich
and varied selection, including the early weavings; ethnic-inspired garments; a
series focused on the kimono form; American iconography; quilts for
grandchildren; quilts for an especially whimsical take on life; quilts as
autobiography, and hand painted quilts.
Asked to reflect on her career, how it began and what drives
her as an artist, Porcella says:
"As a child, motherly love taught me to knit and sew, and rip
mistakes and make it right. Curiosity led to self education, enhanced by a
collection of books, visits to museums, and exploration of textiles from other
countries. Imagination generated inspiration and freedom led to invention. I
learned creativity comes from making your own rules, understanding the limits
of your chosen materials, and having confidence in personal skills.”
“I do what I love with determination,” she continues, “A need to finish each action has developed into a major collection of creative work full of color, filled with events in my life, things that I have heard, emotions of the moment, exploration of American iconography, revisiting experiences as a wife, mother, nurse, weaver, mountain climber, author, teacher, world traveler, craftsman; living amidst the beauty of California’s central valley."
“Through Porcella's works we appreciate these everyday
moments more clearly and perhaps enjoy them more fully as a result,” says
Abbott.
As is her custom, Porcella’s wearable art works frequently
have humorous titles, including
Kaleidoscopically Yours, How Old Are You Now?, Walking the Streets of
Tomorrow, the latter a reference to a vest made with leftover fabric. Many of the early garments were made
from a rich mixture of ethnic textiles, re-cast by Porcella into a style that
is uniquely her own.
While the early garments were intended to be worn, Porcella
made others with the intention they would not be worn. The series was titled “Kimono as Quilt”
and it was a subtle affirmation of the art quilt as an artistic genre. These garments were made to be viewed
as works of art. Porcella
experimented with strip piecing and black and white checkerboard blocks in the
early kimonos. The interiors
quickly became as important as the exteriors. Pasha On The 10:04, for example, features a dynamic exterior
of black, white, and red with small accents of rainbow colors. Its interior reveals a printed fabric
with a hand painted figure. In
other works, hand painting would become a counter to bold colors.
 |
| Pasha on the 10:04, 1984 |
Mickey Mouse, McDonald’s, a cheeseburger, a pink flamingo,
spinach, even 99¢ become the stuff of American iconography in Porcella’s
hands.
 |
| I (Heart) American, 1988 |
All can be found in a series of quilts she made in the 1980s that explore and celebrate what a foreign visitor, in particular, might consider quintessentially American. Youthful, energetic, unstoppable—these quilts suggest all this and more.
Of the autobiographical quilts, In Loving Memory serves as an early example of its type. It is rich in detail and poignant. Porcella writes, “Memories are part of the family experience. When I was young, memories were not something to dwell on…. Only later in my life, now that I am old enough to remember the losses, does memory play an integral part in my creative life.” Family photographs transferred to fabric are surrounded by fabrics intended to convey time as a continuum here. Other quilts such as Memories of Childhood, 1988, reflect memories that are uniquely hers.
Of the autobiographical quilts, In Loving Memory serves as an early example of its type. It is rich in detail and poignant. Porcella writes, “Memories are part of the family experience. When I was young, memories were not something to dwell on…. Only later in my life, now that I am old enough to remember the losses, does memory play an integral part in my creative life.” Family photographs transferred to fabric are surrounded by fabrics intended to convey time as a continuum here. Other quilts such as Memories of Childhood, 1988, reflect memories that are uniquely hers.
 |
| In Loving Memory, 1987 |
 |
| Quilt for a Grandchild, Vittoria Lee, 1990 |
In this same spirit are the quilts Porcella made for each of her grandchildren and now great grandchildren. Stylistically they trace the progression of her techniques and are filled with references to family and the passage of time. In Quilt for Vittoria Lee, Porcella selected some of the fabric she used to make curtains for her own children. Filled with symbols, this quilt includes roses that serve as a reference to her own grandmother, whose name was Rose. The color pink honors a female child while the heart signifies love. The black and white checkerboard found in this quilt echoes her early works in still another reference to time.
 |
| Wisteria le deuxieme, 1995 |
The bold colors that are the hallmark of Porcella’s work
were often countered by a softer, pastel palette achieved through hand painting
silk. Porcella believes the
inspiration for this may have come from living among the almond trees of the
Central Valley. Suggestive of
watercolor, these subtle colors introduce nuances. There is a stillness to them and with that a timelessness.
There may be nothing more joyous than a purple dog leaping
over a lady with green hair. Much
of Porcella’s work is about living life fully, joyously, and imaginatively and
Purple Dog and Green Hair, 2003, is no exception. Words, symbols, and musings
have been seamlessly incorporated into the overall design. One can find “P&B” at the top
right. The word “Textiles” appears
at the bottom right-- below the heart for “I (Heart) Textiles”—all a reference
to a line of fabric Porcella developed for P&B Textiles in 2003. The question mark is more
pronounced. It is self-referential
and has its origins in a defining exchange with a store clerk. “What is your
last name?” he asked.
"Porcella," she replied.
“First initial?” he asked.
“Y,” she responded.
“Because we need it," he explained. There was surely a moment’s pause on her part as she
absorbed what had just happened, but from that time on “Y” and “?” became
interchangeable in any number of her works.
 |
| Purple Dog and Green Hair, 2003 |
The series Four on the Square, begun in 2000, was an
experiment in bringing different themes together: rain, olive, iris,
holidays. Pictured here are
several of each including months of the year expressed in color or mood. This
series featured silk fabrics and fusible web, allowing for free hand cutting
and leading to a more painterly abstract effect in the process.
 |
| Four on the Square, 2000 |
Series of Faces were made between 1998 and 2002. Many were for hospital
installations. The faces began as
self portraits but soon took on a life of their own. For Porcella, the series pictured here harkens back to
thoughts of Mariah from Paint Your Wagon, or Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, or
simply frightening faces from childhood.
The Mariah of Paint Your Wagon “throws the stars around, and sends the
clouds a’flyin’!”
 |
| Series of Faces, 1998-2002 |
Yvonne Porcella: A Retrospective
Carnegie
Arts Center Distinguished Artist, 2012
On
view January 18 through March 14, 2012
Carnegie
Arts Center
250
North Broadway
Turlock,
CA 95380
Telephone: 209-632-5761
Open: Wednesday - Sunday, 10 am – 5 pm
www.carnegieartsturlock.org
$5
admission (member discounts apply)
Children
under 12 are free
[1] It can take more than several moments to find the
second figure in this, at the left center and top. It is part of the fun of
encountering a work by Porcella!
PRESS RELEASE
December 9, 2011
MEDIA CONTACT
Rebecca Phillips Abbott
209-632-5761
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