Quilts
Lucy Mingo (b. 1931), Blocks and strips work-clothes quilt, 1959
Cotton and denim, 79 x 69 in.; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation
Lucy Mingo likes to work with discarded clothes, preferring the feeling of their softer hues and textures. She envisions her transformations of old clothing into quilts as a metaphor for surviving hard times. In her words, “You know, we had hard times. We worked in the fields, we picked cotton, and sometimes we had it and sometimes we didn’t. And so you look at your quilt and you say, “This is some of the old clothes that I wore in the fields. I wore them out, but they’re still doing good.”
In 1959, Mingo sewed this nearly monochromatic quilt using old pants, shirt tops, and material scraps from a nearby shirt factory. An irregular scaffolding of blocks and strips laid out in several tones of blue, the bedcover also includes a stroke of brown and a daub of rich navy whose unexpected presence enlivens the design. The introduction of such sudden incongruities within a dominant pattern is a common and powerful formal tactic among many of the improvisational quiltmakers from Gee's Bend.
These images show the entirety of the quilts, including their handmade edges, against a white background.
Quality
Souls Grown Deep Custom Prints offers custom reproductions of artworks by Souls Grown Deep artists. Hand-made in the USA using gallery-quality materials, we create prints as true to the original work as possible, using strict color management protocols and state-of-the-art printing technology.Selection
Many of the works offered through this store are exclusive and not available anywhere else. We are continually adding new artworks to our offering, so be sure to check back regularly as you build your own gallery.