Allison Stilwell * Self-Portrait

Paper and Fabric Collage

Allison Stilwell (one of my three younger sisters), Midge Baudouin (Al’s partner/wife) and I took a collage portrait class from Derek Gores in 2010. Al decided to tackle a self portrait. At some point after the class she rolled it up and and tucked it into a corner.
Allison died in 2014 after a 6 week tussle with cancer. Midge and I worked on a body of work in her honor to be shown at the Jeanine Taylor Folk Art Gallery. We located the unfinished piece tucked into a corner of her studio. It was a nerve wracking but loving task to finish the piece, but one scrap at a time the image emerged and evolved.

She and I had done collaborative work for years and it made sense to finish it on her behalf. As creative partners we were able to flow from one project to another, hand off work with confidence and trust, knowing that the other one would know what to do next. I miss the ease of that partnership.

From Paper to Fabric Collage

Images of the “Self Portait” were manipulated in Photoshop and printed onto cotton via Spoonflower. Colored and black and white versions were stacked and cut together and reassembled. These pieces incorporate cut and torn scraps of fabric, including cottons that have been stamped, screened, painted. They are held together with strait and free-motion machine stitching, hand embroidery, and love.