Susan J Lapham

Like the bones of a human skeleton, black and white compositions provide an opportunity to focus on the underlying anatomy of the piece. Building strong figure ground tension and creating compelling configurations create a skeleton for the work to be built upon.

Working in black and white helps me think about composition independent of color. Instead, I focus on positive and negative space, contrast, balance, rhythm, depth, and movement. For the past few years, I have worked extensively in black and white to force myself to understand the bones of each composition. Breaking free from color helps me capture the viewer’s attention with contrast, shape, perspective and form.

I often create a set of rules for myself and then make 100 or more small pieces based on those rules. Rules like: black figure, white ground; ten black rectangles forming two enclosed ‘c’ shapes in the ground; all shapes floating; do this five times. Then do five more small pieces adding a third enclosed ‘c’; allow one or two sides to touch the edge; and again, do another five adding a fourth ‘c’ shape but none can touch each other; and so on until I’ve made 100 small compositions. Like sports or music, daily practice builds skill and confidence and makes me a better artist.

Bones (the quilt) is composed of several small black and white pieces created using such rules. The work is pieced using solid cotton fabric then quilted in a grid format to help with scaling up and when I move to color. I refer back to these bones over and over as I work on larger pieces.

Bones
Susan J Lapham
Dimensions: 43″ x 31″
Material: Commercial and hand-dyed cotton
Technique: Improvisationally pieced, long-arm quilted