Artist Statement

I came to quilting through stories. Colorful stories of my great-grandmother, Maggie V. Folk McClellan (1879–1967), connected me to a quilting tradition I had inherited but had yet to explore for myself. When I began quilting in 1996, I entered that lineage as a student. Today, I am a traditionally trained quilter with a modern aesthetic.

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My work draws from the textile traditions and visual languages of Africa and the African diaspora. Through geometry, pattern, color, and African textiles, I explore the intersections of past and present, inheritance and innovation, and function and fine craft. I am particularly drawn to Ghanaian batiks and Kente cloth—textiles that are already extraordinary before they reach me. Through cutting, piecing, and quilting, I extend their story, bringing the artistry of the textile makers into conversation with my own.

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I think of this approach as Modern Traditionalism: honoring the traditions that taught me while allowing them to evolve through my own visual language. Piecing creates structure and rhythm; quilting becomes another layer of drawing, adding line, movement, depth, and texture.

 

At the center of my practice is the belief that quilts carry more than warmth. Within them are memory, culture, history, and the imprint of those who came before us. Many hands, many folks are present in the work—the makers of the textiles, those who shaped the traditions I inherited, and me. Each quilt becomes a continuation: something already extraordinary, transformed again and carried forward.