Jessica R. Smith on the perceived value of woven coverlets in the 19th century:
The idea of weaving and being able to weave this beautiful—what we would call Op Art now—coverlet showed that you were a hard worker and you contributed to the material goods of the family... And the farmers would say “Well my daughter wove this beautiful coverlet—and this is because she made something that was utilitarian, that it was a material good. It was part of our... it's part of our family wealth and it's not just frivolous like embroidery or silk painting, Which I had never heard— like I'd never thought of that, right? And so, I thought well, isn't that interesting—this idea of you like making something that has actually utility... value to it. That it's a functional object is viewed having more value, right? Than this decorative object...
Read MoreRachel Reese on her first meeting with artist, Suzanne Jackson:
I was giving a lecture at the opening of the Nick Cave exhibition we had at the Jepson Center and in that lecture was talking about sort of the impetus for his soundsuits— which was a response to the Rodney King beatings in Los Angeles— he was in Chicago... And she came up to me after the lecture and introduced herself. “Hello. Hello, I'm Suzanne Jackson” And she was wearing these bracelets that she said "Your lecture reminded me. I wear these bracelets everyday" (and she does) "I got them in Watts just before the riots broke out in 1992.” And so that was our first conversation with one another, and I said I've been trying to get in touch with you! So we sort of both talk about that, like, serendipitous first meeting, but from that I went to her studio and—her house and studio—and was just blown away at the amount of work, the like experimental style of her work that she was making. I entered another world in her house, and it was very clear that she had been like head down making work for 10 years with no visibility.
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