Mary Virginia Pettway (1960-), Gin House, 2015
Denim, 37 × 29 inches
Collection of The Artist
Gin House is the final piece in a three-part series titled Trouble Waters, which memorializes the violence of the transatlantic slave trade from Africa to the Americas. The series begins with Village, representing life before enslavement, followed by Ocean Crossing. Gin House confronts the brutality of the Middle Passage, with its intricate stitched waves recalling the waters that carried enslaved Africans away from their homeland and claimed countless lives along the way.
In the artist’s own words: “This piece touches my soul. This is a journey where people were taken from their native land and marched to the Atlantic Ocean shore, loaded on ships and shipped over the ocean. I can only imagine the few who could look back at the shore seeing their native land slowly disappearing, not knowing they would never return. The red piece of fabric in this piece represents the blood and bodies left in the Atlantic Ocean.”
Born and raised in Gee's Bend, Mary Virginia Pettway comes from a long lineage of quiltmakers. She is the great-granddaughter of Lucy Mooney, the granddaughter of Catherine Pettway, and the daughter of Marie Pettway. Taught to quilt by her mother, one of her earliest memories is sitting beneath a quilt as it was being stitched, listening to the rhythmic sound of the needle passing through the fabric. Today, she continues that tradition through her love of quilting, as well as sewing clothing and accessories.
