Linda Gass: Environmental Art through Quilting

Linda Gass

Linda Gass is an environmental artist living and working in the great state of California. She uses intricately quilted hand painted silk, to comment on the impact of man on the California environment.

In the artist statement on Gass' website, she states:

"I deliberately work in textiles with the intention to reach as many people as possible with the issues expressed in my work. Textiles are an unintimidating medium; people feel a familiarity and comfort with fabric since it plays such an integral and basic part in our lives."

Her piece San Joaquin Merced Revival focuses on the impact that the Friant Dam had on the flow of the San Joaquin River and its Chinoock Salmon population. Before the 1940's the river supported a population of over 300,000 thousand salmon but with the completion of the dam and the diversion of the river water to farm irrigation the salmon population was completely destroyed by 1950. 

The intricately quilted silk is breath taking and absolutely beautiful. I'm in awe of the amount of time and energy that went in to all of that sewing. I've tried my hand at sewing and it is not an easy task, whether by hand or on the machine. 

Thank you random google search

Gass' use of color is also impressive. For those who don't know California, I like to say that we're called the Golden State because in the summer all the grass turns yellow and the hills look like golden velvet. My brother, (a business major, no imagination) always looks at me with an incredulous look and says its because of the Gold Rush. Well, obviously, I'm just more poetic than that. 

Speaking of the Gold Rush, Gass has a piece about that:

  

 Well, kind of. This piece is titled After the Gold Rush. This is a depiction of I-5, the interstate that runs the length of California. This is depicting where the interstate crosses the California Aqueduct, which brings water from the Sierra Nevada Mountains to farm land through out California. 

She calls the aqueduct "the second mining of California" as it is over 700 miles long and turned the dessert landscape of California into farmland. This piece is not necessarily against the aqueduct and isn't advocating for its removal, Lord knows that wouldn't go over well, but is simply trying to "beautify an unnatural landscape." 

The Aqueduct is man-made and has drastically changed the enivironment that it runs through. Dessert to farmland, kind of a big jump. Gass is simply calling attention to the impact that man has on our world and the need to be concious of our actions and how the affect our environment, for good and bad.

Here are some more pieces, I won't talk about all of them but will link to their pages on her website if you would like to learn more about the history or politics behind the piece.

Owens River - diverted to the Los Angeles Aqueduct - Inyo County Star Tulip, now endangered due to the diversion

Sanitary?

Refined?

Treatment?

"I use the lure of beauty to both encourage people to look at the hard environmental issues we face and to give them hope. My paintings are done on silk, a naturally beautiful surface, and I gravitate towards luminous, saturated colors, giving my work an optimistic feeling. Although many of the landscapes I depict are ugly in reality, my landscapes are beautified as I prefer to engage the viewer through pleasure. I am trying to create an attitude shift from feeling overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problems to feeling inspired and empowered to take action through the experience of art."

--Linda Gass 

I love that. I know that often people feel overwhelmed by the crazy things that are happening to the environment and don't think they can do anything to help, I know I do, but I do feel inspired by her painted quilts. They are beautiful and definitely make me feel as though there is hope for a better environmental future.