Celebrating Mother's Memory

Tomie Nagano is an internationally renowned Japanese quilt artist with studios in Shari-town, Hokkaido, Japan and Dedham, Massachusetts. She has been the featured artist at the Tokyo International Quilt Festival, and her ten quilt series “Two Hearts in Harmony” is in the permanent collection of the MFA Boston.

Made entirely by hand, the quilts of Tomie Nagano celebrate Japan’s rich textile traditions—natural indigo cotton, woven kasuri patterns, merinsu wool, shibori dyeing, and sashiko stitching. After inheriting a collection of antique textiles saved by her mother from several generations of her extended family, Nagano was inspired to reclaim, recycle and preserve the fabrics in her quilts. Her work explores the perceived simplicity, frugality, and inventiveness of earlier generations.

Many of the quilts Nagano selected for this exhibition were inspired by the natural beauty of Hokkaido, reflecting the changing colors of its landscape, the sea near her studio, and the morning frost on her windows. Though made from the humble and utilitarian fabrics of her pioneering ancestors, Nagano’s quilts are stunning in their design and artistry. Celebrating Mother’s Memory is a must-see exhibition.

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