Artist in Residence 2005: Barbara Watler

The fact that no two fingerprints are alike permits an endless variety of patterns. Comparing my own fingerprints to the generic patterns, I begin to see many variations caused by age, vocation and accidents. I soon asked specific friends and acquaintances for their fingerprints and have developed a large file, which emphasizes both differences and similarities in prints.

Personal identification with the viewer’s own prints and the exploded scale of Watler's artwork provides a uniquely personal appeal for viewers. There is an inherent honesty in these designs that is sometimes missing in other compositions. Ordinary elements are transformed into extraordinary ones. They invite the viewers to see themselves in a new way.

Each quilt is composed of two whole cloth cotton top layers, batting and an unbleached muslin whole cloth backing layer. This sandwich is then satin stitched by machine to quilt the layers together. The first top layer is ultimately hand-cut to reveal the design by exposing the second top layer. This technique is Watler's machine-stitched version of reverse appliqué although it is also categorized as direct appliqué.

Inspired by Claus Oldenberg’s giant sculptures and reminiscent of pop art’s hard edge painting techniques, Barbara Watler's “prints” are an homage to modernism. They are concerned with finding a visual equivalent to contemporary life by capitalizing on the absurdly enlarged size. The images are cropped to deliberately confound the sense of scale.

Born in 1932 in Youngstown, Ohio Watler learned how to use a treadle sewing machine when she was six years old and hasn't stopped sewing since. In the mid seventies she picked up paint and brushes and became interested again in a childhood desire to become an artist. As a kid she was fascinated by magazine illustrations, especially Norman Rockwell. She decided to become an illustrator and graduated from the Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale in 1978 with a degree in Advertising Design. As a freelance illustrator, Watler specialized in using fabrics as her medium. These illustrations were reproduced on magazine covers, as article illustrations, greeting cards, interior design accessories and manufacturer’s prototypes. Several of them won achievement awards for her clients.

During these years, Watler freely created art for her own enjoyment and personal expression. Her use of glorious color with complex constructions and fabrics of all types (printed or plain, fashion or upholstery) added much pleasure and uniqueness to her work. Fine painting in mixed media was used on these fabrics along with both hand- and machine-stitching to produce universally appealing and time-resistant wall hangings. These quilts are far from frivolous, sometimes flamboyant, often large and always stitched art works that contain mixtures of obvious metaphors, ancient references and modern icons. Themes run the gamut from visual jokes, satirical social commentaries, political pundits and personal memorials.

Watler has lived in Hollywood, Florida for the past 40 years and has exhibited nationally and internationally for the past 20 years. Her work is published in several books and periodicals. She has created many art quilts and sculptures for children’s museums, educational programs and public art.