Kaleidoscopic XXX: Tree Grate, 53rd and 7th

Paula Nadelstern

58.5 x 51.5 inches

2004

ARTIST STATEMENT

A tree grate integrates trees into the cityscape, suppressing weeds while allowing pedestrian traffic over the tree planting area. I’m a born and bred New Yorker. How many times had I passed these urban accessories before the day I looked down and instantly recognized the shape of my next quilt? I aimed for an unsettling conceptual shift, taking a symmetrical object that New Yorkers usually ignore and always assume will be solid, and pulling the ground out from under it.

MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES

Cottons, silk

Machine pieced, hand quilted