Astonishing Craft and Color at The White Gallery

Quilts, those homey creations of rural and small-town American women in the 19th and much of the 20th centuries, sometimes — in the creative, talented hands of some quilters — rose to the level of great folk art. Now Kate Stiassni, former CBS employee and home designer, takes quilting techniques and applies a contemporary sensibility to make fine art wall textiles, some of which are on display at The White Gallery in Lakeville, CT. Stiassni, who lives part time in Sharon, works in a studio attached to her home. There she may first sketch an idea or perhaps begin a “design wall,” where she tries various combinations of colors, fabrics and shapes. It’s a bit like solving a puzzle, but the puzzle is in her head and only she knows when she has found the correct solution. All fabric is hand dyed, and stitching is by hand or machine. The quilts range from quite small to as big as 6x6 feet. The patterns and color combinations are often intricate, yet they most often seem entirely logical and right. These are abstract paintings in a way, based on landmarks, natural vistas, urban cityscapes. One large piece, “My Two TV’s,” even refers to her past work in television: Two old- fashioned, boxy TV sets on skinny legs stand side by side but at slight angles to each other. Concentric trapezoidal shapes laid on top of one another draw your eye into the piece to what you realize are two small, square screens. “Urban Renewal” and “Urban Renewal II” are complicated pieces based on the city. “II” might be an abstract of a city grid map, while the other quilt is a wonderful abstract of jumbled city buildings and streets in brilliantly conceived layers. And yet “Opposites Attract,” a marvelous quilt inspired by the Connecticut landscape that resembles two ladders connected by a horizontal bridge, seems entirely urban to me. For the most part Stiassni does not seek depth in her quilts. Even the layered pieces seem to remain largely two-dimensional. Yet occasionally, as in “Inside Out,” she fools the eye into seeing depth: Here bold, broad continuous bands of colors — white, yellow, purple, orange — start at the bottom of the piece and move together concentrically at right angles, like a ribbon, toward the small, deep center. Three quilts were inspired by the Falls Village bridge, both structurally in shapes and lines, and in the meaning of “bridge” as a way across a barrier, of joining opposites. While I am not sure I get what Stiassni was thinking, I do get that these are among her strongest, most abstract work. The intriguing play of oranges and golds and even white in curves, lines and rectangles is terrific; and the fish-like shapes in the biggest piece, “Country Bridge,” seem in constant motion. “Uncommon Threads,” the quilts of Kate Stiassni, continues at The White Gallery through Jan. 27. The gallery, which is at 344 Main St. in Lakeville, CT, has winter hours Thursday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 860-435-1029 or go to thewhitegallery@sbcglobal.net.