Since February is Black History month I thought I'd post this piece I created last year called Safe House. I had heard a story that quilts were hung to direct slaves to freedom and decided to read up on it. I found a book called Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad by J.L. Tobin and R.G. Dobard. I found it fascinating. Among the various stories was one that compelled me to create this work. Apparently traditional "log cabin" designs had interior squares of red to symbolize the hearth fire. The people that were part of the Underground Railroad made log cabin quilts with black centers and hung them over fences and on laundry lines. When slaves (who were escaping) saw this pattern, they knew it was a safe house. Thus, the messages were "hidden in plain view". After reading up on this a bit more, I found out that historians are divided on the veracity of these quilts. It's one of those things that makes a lot of sense to me though and I choose to believe it.mixed media/collage on canvas
