Linda Colsh

About the Artist

An American artist recently returned to Maryland after more than 25 years abroad, Linda Colsh exhibits internationally. Her award-winning art is in private, corporate, and museum collections and has been published worldwide. Recent career highlights include selection to show in Fiber Philadelphia’s Inside/Outside the Box, the 4th Riga (Latvia) International Textile & Fibre Art Triennial, and Quilt (R)Evolution at Ohio’s Dairy Barn Arts Center. Her work has hung in solo shows in France, Belgium, Hungary, Korea, and Germany. She has curated, judged, and juried exhibitions, including Quilt National 2013, Quilt Nihon 2014, and Visions 2010. She is currently a member of the Advisory Board of the International Quilt Study Center & Museum; and previously served as Board member and Secretary of Studio Art Quilt Associates.

Artist's Statement

I explore humanist themes that focus on aspects of growing old and the issues of the elderly: solitude, invisibility, privacy, identity, and concepts of what is beautiful (or not). My work references the concept of control: people struggling to stay in control when things get out of control. I choose imagery that expresses how experience enables people to cope (or not) with the often-overwhelming world they navigate day in and day out. The narratives I build around the characters that populate my work demonstrate my respect for them as people. In addition to practicality (my artwork easily rolls and folds), I work in layered and stitched cloth for esthetic reasons. Fiber is tactile. Stitch and layers create subtle shadows that add dimension to the statement made by the printed, painted and drawn images. While my art is primarily visual, the soft suppleness of cut, sewn, layered cloth pierced by needle and thread brings other senses and even emotions into play.