Feminine Writing

prayer to the sky reverse side

On February 12, Judy Martin made a zoom presentation about her work in quilts to the Kanata Quilt Guild.  Each time Judy speaks about her work, she learns more about herself and about how it fits into the larger world of poetics and fine art.  During this talk, Judy introduced the ideas of French philosopher / intellectual / writer, Helene Cixous that describe feminine writing.  

The feminine writer, like a mother, looking with a look that recognizes, studies, respects, doesn’t take, doesn’t claw, but attentively, with gentle relentlessness, contemplates and caresses, bathes, and makes the other shine.  She brings back to light the life what has been buried, and signs its name.  H. Cixous 

basic goodness reverse side

Judy also quoted Louise Bourgeois in her talk on February 12.  In her last decades, Bourgeois made art pieces from her hoarded clothing and domestic cloth, and famously stated:  Art is a guarantee of sanity.  For Bourgeois, creating art is a life-saving, curative tool for porcessing trauma and emotional struggles and was not just a decorative object or product.  

Images of Judy's current work introduced and ended the talk.  During the presentation, Judy discussed and illustrated about how her mothering, her worrying, and where she lives are always within her work.