Quilted Passages, Atlanta Hartfield Jackson International Airport, Atlanta, GA
While creating the idea for this space I thought about the passages and
transitions one makes in life’s physical and spiritual journeys and
metaphorically how the airport environment offers so many means
of passage (such as elevators, shuttles trains, and airplanes). I wanted
to show the passage of life from the baby spirit to the wisdom of the
ancestral spirits through the use of dresses. I choose not to fill the
dresses with physical bodies to emphasize our spirit. I also wanted to
evoke the cyclic continuum of life’s journeys by celebrating both those
who have passed as well as those that are yet to come or return.
I aimed to visually translate into this quilted tapestry of paintings and
found objects, the collective spirit of those who came before us and
the wealth of wisdom they have left. The act of quilting (or for me,
attaching by various means) is a way to make sense of the fragments of
information I know for sure. The niches or shadowed spaces represent
the somewhat mysterious understanding or things not known. The
empty frames reference the potential of those things created, rediscovered
or reclaimed in our lives. The implied motherly dresses form
protective archways or passageways for the new or returning spirits that
will embody the white dresses that await on hangers. The pure white
baby dresses filled with vigor and potential have not yet been patterned
or stained with the experience and wisdom of the motherly quilted
dresses, but they show the long passage and transition that exists between
the two. The dress will eventually become a part of the quilt.
It is my desire that “Quilted Passage” evoke a visual comfort for travelers
as well as the hope that new journeys and beginnings inspire.
transitions one makes in life’s physical and spiritual journeys and
metaphorically how the airport environment offers so many means
of passage (such as elevators, shuttles trains, and airplanes). I wanted
to show the passage of life from the baby spirit to the wisdom of the
ancestral spirits through the use of dresses. I choose not to fill the
dresses with physical bodies to emphasize our spirit. I also wanted to
evoke the cyclic continuum of life’s journeys by celebrating both those
who have passed as well as those that are yet to come or return.
I aimed to visually translate into this quilted tapestry of paintings and
found objects, the collective spirit of those who came before us and
the wealth of wisdom they have left. The act of quilting (or for me,
attaching by various means) is a way to make sense of the fragments of
information I know for sure. The niches or shadowed spaces represent
the somewhat mysterious understanding or things not known. The
empty frames reference the potential of those things created, rediscovered
or reclaimed in our lives. The implied motherly dresses form
protective archways or passageways for the new or returning spirits that
will embody the white dresses that await on hangers. The pure white
baby dresses filled with vigor and potential have not yet been patterned
or stained with the experience and wisdom of the motherly quilted
dresses, but they show the long passage and transition that exists between
the two. The dress will eventually become a part of the quilt.
It is my desire that “Quilted Passage” evoke a visual comfort for travelers
as well as the hope that new journeys and beginnings inspire.
The City of Atlanta Department of Aviation Art Program proudly presents:
Quilted Passages A multi-media artwork by Lillian Blades
Quilted Passages is a public art installation commissioned by the City of Atlanta Department of Aviation
Art Program. The artwork is located on the Boarding level of International Concourse E at Hartsfield-
Jackson Atlanta International Airport. For more information about this artwork or the Airport Art
Program contact 404/530-4289 | P.O. Box 20509 | Atlanta, Georgia 30320 | www.atlanta-airport.com
Quilted Passages is a public art installation commissioned by the City of Atlanta Department of Aviation
Art Program. The artwork is located on the Boarding level of International Concourse E at Hartsfield-
Jackson Atlanta International Airport. For more information about this artwork or the Airport Art
Program contact 404/530-4289 | P.O. Box 20509 | Atlanta, Georgia 30320 | www.atlanta-airport.com
