Deception Decomposition #2

---

Artist: Caryl Fallert-Gentry

Title: Deception Decomposition #2

Attribution: Deception Decomposition #2, 2020, Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry

Year: 2020

Materials: cotton fabric, cotton/bamboo batting, acrylic & polyester thread, ink

Dimensions: 29" x 40"

Image Statement: This quilt is based on a photograph I took in Antarctica in February 2020 at an abandoned whaling station on Deception Island, which is actually the flooded caldera of an active volcano. The whaling station was used to produce whale oil from 1912-1931 and then abandoned, leaving behind steel tanks and furnaces that corroded from the salt spray and the sulfurous steam rising from the water’s edge. They were further damaged by a volcanic eruption and resulting mud slide in 1969. I found some interesting patterns in the corrosion on the decaying equipment. The image for Deception Decomposition #2 was cropped from one of these photos. The image was reshaped, recolored, and digitally painted. The image was duplicated and recolored again in complimentary colors (directly opposite on the color wheel). The duplicated images were rearranged to make a composition with repeating shapes and lines that continue from one side to the other. The final, whole design was printed on cotton fabric by Spoonflower. It is very heavily quilted, to the level of thread painting, with many different colors of polyester and acrylic thread. The binding strips are one-of-a-kind fabric, designed especially for this quilt.