Amy Ahlstrom
A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall, 2025
Silk and cotton quilt 18" x 20"
A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall: This quilt references the Bob Dylan song "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall". In his memoir, Chronicles Volume One, Dylan credited the song’s inspiration to an experience reading newspapers: “After a while you become aware of nothing but a culture of feeling, of black days, of schism, evil for evil, the common destiny of the human being getting thrown off course.” There is a hint of a face in profile; an eye is watching. Clouds drip ominous streaks of black rain; there is a skull with clouds of newsprint whispering. The work feels heavy but its bright colors are cautiously hopeful.
Amy Ahlstrom
Anomaly, 2024
Silk and cotton quilt 27.5" x 36.5"
Anomaly is a silk and cotton quilt with hand-cut appliqués. It features a curved, pieced background that seemingly cuts the picture plane to create an "anomaly" in which the lower right section is upside down. It refers to the chaos of climate change and our current political climate.
Amy Ahlstrom
Cloudburst, 2024
Silk and cotton quilt 33" x 27.5"
Cloudburst is a silk and cotton quilt that depicts a walking cloud, watchful single eyes and a skull in profile. Graphic flowers and arrows lead the viewer's eye into a surrealist dreamscape.
Amy Ahlstrom
Downpour, 2025
Silk and cotton quilt 11.25" x 11.25"
Downpour is a curved quilt depicting a lone eye among a series of drips under a cloudy sky. The white abstracted clouds at the top of the piece are cut from collaged newsprint fabric that contains text fragments referencing countries, borders and environmental disasters. A single, crying eye watches the viewer from within the storm. A downpour can be a deluge of misinformation, or an outpouring of support.
Amy Ahlstrom
Partly Cloudy, 2024
Silk and cotton quilt 13.5" x 16.5"
Partly Cloudy is a silk and cotton quilt depicting a lone eye dripping from a cloudy sky. A skull in profile is a sentinel, keeping watch. A text-filled arrow guides us to a bright garden. The images converge at the center, creating a haunting surrealist landscape.
Amy Ahlstrom
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? (Storm Watch), 2024
Silk and cotton quilt 29.5" x 28.75"
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? (Storm Watch) is a silk and cotton quilt that features large single eyes dripping from a cloudy black sky. The title refers to the Latin phrase that translates to “who watches the watchmen?” and alludes to corruption and the abuse of power.
Amy Ahlstrom
Stormy Weather, 2024
Silk and cotton quilt 27.5" x 46"
Stormy Weather is a silk and cotton quilt that evokes a window or portal, and depicts droplets with eyes amidst a dark garden. The images convey a surreal sense of instability and surveillance.
Amy Ahlstrom
Unstable Air, 2024
Silk and cotton quilt 23.5" x 22.5"
Unstable Air is a silk and cotton quilt that utilizes giant droplet shapes, black drips and clouds within clouds in a vibrant, contrasting color palette to convey a sense of foreboding and anxiety. In meteorological terms, unstable air is an atmospheric condition in which clouds, rain, and thunderstorms are likely to occur. It mirrors our current political climate, in which deliberately cruel chaos often leads to predictable catastrophes.
Amy Ahlstrom
Whether, 2024
Silk and cotton quilt 25" x 29"
Whether is a silk and cotton quilt referencing the water table and cycles of regeneration. Black drips at the top left signify trouble on the horizon. Arrows flow up from the ground, where a skull is buried, sprouting flowers. The quilt features a pieced, curved background with hand-cut fused appliqués, and is quilted using a hand-guided free motion technique.
