Louisiana Bendolph (American, b. 1960)
Shared Legacy, 2007
Color softground etching with aquatint and spitbite aquatint, ed. 31/50
22 5/8 x 18 7/8 in.
Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art, St. Petersburg College, gift of James G. Sweeny in memory of Martha M. Sweeny, 2020.4.17
Published by Paulson Bott Press, Berkley, CA
Louisiana Bendolph is an artist and member of the Gee’s Bend quilters, a group of African American women who live and make quilts in Gee’s Bend, Alabama. Many residents in this community are ancestors of the slaves from the Pettway Plantation. The Gee’s Bend quilters are known for their improvisational geometry and unorthodox approach to formal quilt compositions. Bendolph’s quilts are considered more conceptual because of her use of vibrant color. She starts each quilt by making an initial sketch and, using the standard “housetop” pattern based on concentric squares, she improvises and modifies as she sews to create unique shapes. Bendolph’s quilts have been exhibited in major museums including the Museum of Modern Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and many others.
Shared Legacy is part of a series of etchings Bendolph created in 2007 at Paulson Bott Press, in Berkley, California. Bendolph and fellow quilter and mother-in-law, Mary Lee Bendolph, were invited to Paulson Bott Press to produce fine art prints based on their quilts. Both quilters were accustomed to working on their quilts alone and were set up in a studio to create their quilts, which were to be reproduced as fine art prints on paper. The staff at Paulson Press respected their wishes to work alone. When it came time to print, Bendolph was faced with making decisions, giving direction, and working with a team of people, something she had never experienced before. From farming as a child to working in the Lee factory sewing zippers, she was always told what to do and take direction from other people. The familial atmosphere of the print workshop made Bendolph comfortable to make the creative choices. She commented that the denim apron they gave her to wear reminded her of the worn-out coveralls that the men wore in the fields back home. In Gee’s Bend, those worn-out work clothes were made into quilts. Coming full circle, Bendolph used to give her children paper to play with and make paper quilts while she worked at the sewing machine. Seeing her quilts translated on paper as fine art prints at Paulson Bott Press brought her comfort as she thought of her children.
Soulsgrowndeep.org – Louisiana Bendolph, Shared Legacy print project
https://www.soulsgrowndeep.org/artist/louisiana-p-bendolph/work/shared-legacy-intaglio-print