Living Colour Vital Statistics

THANK YOU to all the textile and fibre artists who submitted works for consideration.  I am thrilled to report that Living Colour has attracted both quality and quantity.  I received a 177 entries from 160 artists.  My in-box has been spinning with over 50% of the entries coming in on the last week and 20% on the last day!  I will be sending out notifications shortly.  In the meantime, here are some key statistics.

Entries by Country

Most of the entries came from Australia and New Zealand but other countries were represented.  Here is a breakdown:

  • 107  Australia
  • 20  New Zealand
  • 19 USA & Canada
  • 24 UK & Europe (The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, Romania, Ireland, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland)
  • 3 South America (Uruguay & Chile)
  • 4  Israel

Living Colour Entries By CountryColours

Only a handful of monochromatic works were submitted so this chart looks at the predominant colour.

ColourChartSubject Matter & Design

Colour was not my only criteria.  I was looking for works that addressed the “living” element of the title theme.  This was not always apparent!Living Colour Entries by SubjectThere was a fairly equal weighting of abstract and representational designs.

DesignChartMaterials & Techniques

Materials ChartReviewing the entry data, I was struck by how many artists utilise paints, inks and pencils to enhance their work even if this is not the dominant technique.TechniquesChart

Comments

  1. Fascinating. I love this nitty gritty stuff. I see I contributed to several of the majority factors!

  2. That is fascinating to see all the similarities and differences from one theme!

  3. I am loving the statistical data! It really made it interesting, especially for my hubby. I cannot wait to see all the wonderful quilts!

  4. els.vereycken says

    I am disappoint that my quilt is not choosen.
    Can you give any comment about the quilt
    I can use it for other quiltworks
    It was a great plaisure to work for these theme
    Els Vereycken
    Sorry for my english

  5. Paula Rafferty says

    Ooohh so excited, got selected, yeah. Wasn’t expecting news till tomorrow so extra surprised, did a little dance around my sitting room much to the amusement of the dog and cat, then howled in terror as the message disappeared when I tried to open it on my pc, retrieved it on ipad though, so all good . Wow all that data is fascinating, can’t wait to see the exhibition as a whole. Was very impressed with the exhibit at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham last year, that’s why I entered. Got to go attach some Velcro casings and get the postage organised, yeah.

  6. Elated to have made the cut. Like Deborah, I contributed to several of the techniques and other factors…really looking forward to seeing the exhibit (online, alas not in person). Any chance you might put together a Blurp/Snapfish/other print-on-demand catalogue?

    • Yes, I am exploring a print-on-demand catalogue. If anyone has expertise in extracting the background from images, I would love to hear from you!

  7. Chris Dowell says

    So happy to be have also made the cut and looking forward to seeing all of the chosen quilts. The states are great love all of the ‘living colour’.

  8. Very cool Brenda to analyse the trends and a great way to get a statistical ‘batch’. Looking forward to seeing the work.

  9. Robyn Eves says

    So interesting to get this kind of feedback – well to get any feedback. I guess judges and curators are usually under a lot of time pressure and feedback is difficult but generally I think it would be a helpful adjunct to just seeing results, ie the winning or selected quilts.
    In this case it would perhaps be interesting to compare the stats for the selected quilts with the whole field.
    A book is a great idea. The AQIPP competition does it though I think they have a whole committee to help with the competition and exhibition.

  10. Katherine Gates says

    Just looking at your timeline. Such a shame the quilts will be returned before Houston this year, how amazing it would have been to have considered seeing these wonderful works at such a venue.

    • Hi Katherine – Thanks for stopping by. The exhibition tour is from April 2014 to October 2015 and I am exploring a range of venues including some international opportunities. Unfortunately, staging a special exhibit at Houston, even if it is accepted, requires substantial financial/sponsorship investment which is beyond the resources of this project.

  11. If you are wanting a specific element executed in the entry then that should be made evident and clear. In a design brief as teachers that is what we need to make evident to our students, your requirement is not clear and esoteric for those who do not do this professionally. “Living colour ” to me means just that, the use of colour and the demonstration of life. It seems to me that those who do this as a “job” receive preference and their is no encouragement for those who have a go. Yes there were many entries and that is wonderful, but the requirements need to be clear so that those who miss out understand the requirements and are given feedback. If it were one of my students, without feedback and specific guidelines they wouldn’t be encouraged to enter again.

    • I’m afraid Hilary and Patricia, that you may be misinterpreting these statistics. The charts are not indicating that the juror was looking for, let’s say, appliquéd botanical abstracts using the complete spectrum. The charts are just showing, in percentages of entries, what was submitted. As for feedback, I have found that show and tell or critiques with a trusted group of artist friends and peers is much more helpful than a note from a juror or judge, as they are looking at works not only for individual skill and interest, but also how all the chosen works hold together as a show. Thus, it is possible for a perfectly wonderful artwork to be rejected from a particular show.

    • Thank you for entering the Living Colour exhibition. To maximise participation and provide creative freedom, the theme of this exhibition was intentionally broad and did not prescribe any particular colour scheme, techniques, style or materials. The only essential requirement was the specific size and that the work be robust enough for the rigours of a travelling exhibition. I trust these basic parameters were clear from the conditions of entry.

      The above statistics were provided to give entrants, and other interested readers, an insight as to source of the entries (by country) and a rough idea of the range of styles, colours, subject matter, styles, techniques and materials used by the entrants. As Kristin remarks above, in any juried exhibition it possible for a wonderful artwork to be excluded so as to create a cohesive show in the available space.

      My goal is to showcase the diversity of the textile art medium in a vibrant exhibition drawn from the entries that were actually submitted. To, in effect, “create a work of art out of works of art”(see my Living Colour Announcement today). Whether I am successful in that goal will be for viewers to assess after the exhibition has opened.

      As you will see, the Living Colour artists includes both experienced and emerging artists. (For at least one of the artists, this is the first time that their work has been in an exhibition.)

      I am not in a position to provide detailed critiques of individual entries (and don’t think this would be appropriate anyway) but I will be sharing some curatorial insights that I hope will be helpful. Watch this space 🙂

    • Thank you for submitting an entry for Living Colour! I am not in a position to provide individual comments and critiques. However, you can read more about the curatorial process on my blog at The Living Colour Selection Process.

  12. I agree with Hilary, we who were not selected need feedback. I hope you will find the time to send us each a personal mail about our work.

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