FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 1, 2016
Press Contact: Erin Barnaby
802-985-0881
ebarnaby@shelburnemuseum.org
Hat & Fragrance Gallery, May 1–October 31, 2016
Contemporary 3-D Quilts by Internationally Renowned Fiber Artist Dominique Ehrmann, on View at the Shelburne Museum.
(Shelburne, Vermont) This immersive, whimsical exhibition will feature more than sixteen quilts ranging from three-dimensional to kinetic quilted sculptures, by internationally renowned fiber artist Dominique Ehrmann. Dominique Ehrmann: Once Upon A Quilt will be on view at the Shelburne Museum May 1 through October 31, 2016.
Dominique Ehrmann is celebrated for her freestanding, three-dimensional quilted sculptures. Referring to herself a “quilt illustrator,” Ehrmann likes to tell stories with her quilts, many of which have a humorous twist. Inspired by children’s pop-up books, the quilts are technologically complex, using a mix of traditional quilting techniques, appliqués, and commercially printed fabrics. Her process begins with a simple pop-up design cut from cardboard and colored with crayons. It is then transferred to a full-scale drawing. Ehrmann creates these fabric sculptures in her spare time, and they can take many years to complete. Her work ranges from the 24-inch-wide Lady Gabie to her well-known Come and Follow Me! quilt, which stands 6 feet tall. The quilts on view will range in form from a medieval vestment to an outdoor kinetic sculpture.
Ehrmann’s outdoor kinetic sculpture, aptly titled Kinetic Quilt, will have its public debut at Shelburne Museum. This wind-powered sculpture will greet visitors entering the Hat & Fragrance building. This canvas, foam, and steel sculpture is a departure from her other work in its materials and scale; however, what it shares with them is the whimsy of mixing traditional and original quilt patterns with new sculptural and technological features.
About Dominique Ehrmann
Internationally renowned fiber artist Dominique Ehrmann lives in Ste-Sophie, Quebec. From a very young age, she has been a maker. Ehrmann learned to sew by herself at the age of 13 and continues to enjoy the pastime. In her professional life, she was a chocolatier and cake baker for 25 years, but her passion for quilting made her reorient her career several years ago. A self-taught artist, Ehrmann has been exploring 3-D quilting for nearly a decade after seeing a quilted wall hanging in a gallery. In 2010 she presented her first 3-D quilt, Come and Follow Me! Since then, it has been seen by more than 50,000 people and has been the recipient of awards in Canada and the United States. In 2015, Ehrmann was the Featured Artist in the Washington Northern Quilters Alliance. She frequently teaches at guilds and shops in Quebec and Ontario as well as occasional trips to the United States.
About Shelburne Museum
Founded in 1947 by sugar heiress and pioneering folk art collector Electra Havemeyer Webb (1888–1960), Shelburne Museum is today the largest art and history museum in northern New England and Vermont’s foremost public resource for visual art and material culture. The museum is now open year-round, with the Pizzagalli Center for Art and Education and Webb Gallery featuring important American paintings by Andrew Wyeth, Winslow Homer, Grandma Moses, John Singleton Copley, and many more. For more information, please visit shelburnemuseum.org.
Shelburne Museum
6000 Shelburne Road or PO Box 10
Shelburne, VT 05482
802-985-3346