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| Pulse ©2016, 26" x 40" |
A month ago today, at 2:06 am, Eddie Justice texted his mother from a bathroom inside Pulse, an Orlando, FL nightclub. "Mommy I love you" he started. Back and forth, they shared the terror of the event as it unfolded. "I'm going to die". By the end of the night, he and 48 other members of the LGBTQ community and their allies had been killed. Among them, young men, young women, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters.
A year ago at this time, I was sewing hearts for the victims of the Charleston, SC shooting.
I'm sick of making hearts...not that I don't want to comfort the hurt and hurting. Not that the act of sewing is not a soothing catharsis for me. But this cycle of violence must end. In the month that has passed since the horrific Pulse shooting, hundreds of innocent lives have been taken from Baghdad to Baton Rouge. Many more have been shattered and changed forever. My heart breaks. I don't have answers, but I am looking.
Quilt details: Machine pieced, machine quilted commercial cotton prints.
A year ago at this time, I was sewing hearts for the victims of the Charleston, SC shooting.
I'm sick of making hearts...not that I don't want to comfort the hurt and hurting. Not that the act of sewing is not a soothing catharsis for me. But this cycle of violence must end. In the month that has passed since the horrific Pulse shooting, hundreds of innocent lives have been taken from Baghdad to Baton Rouge. Many more have been shattered and changed forever. My heart breaks. I don't have answers, but I am looking.
Quilt details: Machine pieced, machine quilted commercial cotton prints.
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| Pulse, detail |
Very moving.
ReplyDeleteI know you'll take it the right way when I say "I'm sick of seeing hearts."
....just as I assume people will take it right when I say "I am sick of making hearts". I am sick of the call to make hearts, the need to respond to another tragedy. I'm actually sick of the tragedies and our seeming impotence and unwillingness to stop or even slow them. But you knew that...
DeleteThis is heartbreaking Martha....
ReplyDeleteMaking the quilt helped me through it, but, I keep thinking of his mother, every mother, everyone touched by this.
DeleteVery moving.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteThe text message is so powerful on this quilt Martha it brings years to my eyes.
ReplyDeleteHis story made it so personal to me, heartbreaking.
DeleteSo tragic that these quilts cannot be symbols of happy love rather than the sad expression of national horrific crimes!!! They are wonderful as they stand, wish they didn't have to be!!!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean, Dee. In another moment, it could have been a baby quilt. The world changes so quickly, so irrevocably, in minutes.
DeleteA very moving piece. My heart aches for all of the victims of gun violence and hate. We need to find a way to teach kindness to every child. And limit gun ownership! I admire you for doing this piece - I'm so angry I can't put it into work.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jeanne. I agree with you completely. Where do we begin?
DeleteThis is a powerful and meaningful work Martha! I can see the effort you put in this piece. It must have been a precious creating experience. I always admire artists who respond to current events with their art.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Hsin-Chen. It was a meaningful process and truly a catharsis. I've very mixed feelings about the final piece and what it elicits.
DeleteBeautiful. Such a moving tribute. Orlando is my city. Born and raised. My guild, The Orlando Modern Quilt Guild is busy making hearts along with other caring quilters. It's heartwarming to say the least. We are a kind world for the most part. I have to believe that.
ReplyDeleteMartha, this is heartbreakingly beautiful. Please submit it to Sacred Threads.
ReplyDeleteThis is beautiful, and saddening. I haven't any other proper words for the event at the Pulse, nor your response to the event. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeletePowerful...heartbreaking...beyond words...
ReplyDelete