Quilts and Compositions

 

‘Wind and Water on Our Journey,’ 45 x 82 inches, fabric quilt with ink text and computer printed images. Copyright © 2012 Esther Iverem

For her quilts, Esther Iverem is drawn to the common fabrics of her generation, including denim jeans, khaki and camouflage. These everyday fabrics are juxtaposed with fine silk or metallic finishes, as well as rough textures such as pockets, waistbands and exposed seams. Many of her quilts also include excerpts from her poetry books and computer printed images that add to the narrative of history and passage.

Her recent works are inspired by two Yoruba spirits, Oya, who governs wind, tempests, vengeance and communications with the ancestors, and Olokun, who governs the deepest part of the seas and so also governs the souls of Africans thrown into the ocean during the Atlantic Slave Trade.

Iverem’s art quilts, which include custom memory quilts, are held in several private collections and can be viewed on this website, LegacyQuiltsandArt.com.