Noise! and Airmail Winners of the 2005 Grand National Curators' Choice Award Curators Statement - May 22, 2005 As Co-Curator of the Grand National series of invitational quilt shows, I have the honour of bestowing annually, one of two Curator's Choice awards on a work of art that resonates personally for me. This year I have been granted the privilege of honouring not one, but two pieces, the 'twin' entries submitted to Airborne by Jodi-Marie Horne of Leduc, Alberta. My initial response to the assemblage of quilts that is this year's Grand National was admiration for the creative and innovative approaches artists took in interpreting the theme 'airborne'. Jodi-Marie has not only artfully addressed the concept in her quilt 'AirMail', but also in planning it, she has engineered the means whereby her piece could actually experience the state of being borne aloft - of flying - albeit in a mail bag, in the cargo of a commercial jet plane! The use of the word "piece" in this case, is technically not accurate since 'AirMail' actually comprises sixteen seperate pieces, each of which flew back independently from sixteen different destinations to be reunited with their quiltmates by the artist. As whimsical as this treatment of the theme may be, and as fascinating as one may find the postal information displayed on the reverse side, still the composition of the piece itself is in no way secondary or of lesser interest artistically, the design is both graphically strong and visually appealing and the construction is technically well executed. Equally as interesting and for me, more thought provoking is the little gem 'Noise!', also by Jodi-Marie Horne. How far we have come from those innocent days when man first experienced the magic of the human voice transmitted over the air waves! Those legendary words, "Watson...I need you......" have long since been drowned out by the cacophony of sounds that bombard us today. When did those harmless tiny tweeters and woofers mutate into thundering "boom boxes"? Horne captures it all graphically in 'Noise!'; epithets of sound explode on her canvas; dissonance emanates through netting suggestive of stereo speakers. The viewer feels vaguely uneasy. The artist, however, is truly in command...both of her medium and her art. Congratulations Jodi-Marie. Susan M. Burke Manager/Curator Joseph Schneider Haus |
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