Polish Painting

Artists Virginia Greaves and Leisa Rich created 9 contemporary quilts, a 25 foot by 7 foot deconstructed quilt, a simulated car wash and more, for a unique exhibition inspired by Leisa’s drive through car wash photos. An intriguing idea to put the unlikely artists together came to Lauren Bernazza, who was at that time Gallery Director at the Abernathy Arts Center Gallery, when the artists’ prize-winning – and completely different -- pieces were exhibited side-by-side during the 2014 Georgia Artists exhibition. The main pieces - fabric, abstracted “quilts” that slowly deconstruct - featured in the exhibition are based on photographs Leisa takes during her trips through commercial car washes. These images are then translated to fabric through piecing and passed back and forth over time between the two artists who stitch and embellish them into the series of works that represent the wash and wax experience. They use fabrics, but also recycled shower curtains, 1970’s designer dresses, nail polish and more in refreshing ways. That these two very different individuals, with such diverse ways of creating -- one working in a traditional, 2D technique and the other with sculptural 3D -- have been brought together, is a uniquely transformative experience for the artists and viewers. Self-taught quilt maker Virginia Greaves started making quilts after the birth of her first child and grew from making traditional quilts to creating intricate portraits of people and animals using textiles as her medium. Although at first glance her work is often mistaken for paintings, her materials are mostly fiber and thread. Leisa Rich, trained in the fiber arts, works with non-traditional approaches and conceptual materials and techniques, including 3D printing. She invents new visual realities that make a transformation from one tangible to another through touchable, viewer interactive art works and the creation of transformative, pseudo-Utopian environments that offer a collective human experience.