Folk Grafika

In her first Boston solo show, Folk Grafika: Modern Quilts, Maritza Soto draws on the rich history of traditional quilting, Modern art, and her own background in fine art and design to create a series of pieces that fuse the old and the new.

"My goal is to create objects that can be both utilitarian and art, to blur the lines that define craft versus design, and to make objects that function on multiple levels," says Soto. Her work is influenced as much by the paintings of Modern artists such as Frank Stella and Ellsworth Kelly as they are by the quilts of the Amish and of Gee's Bend. The crisp shapes, bold geometry, and rich colors prevalent in her work are informed by the common iconography of both Modernist paintings and Modern quilting.

In Soto’s "Modern Drunkard's Path No. 6," a traditional quilt design is reinterpreted through shifts of color and tone, and presented as something suitable for a wall, bed, or the pages of an art book. The riffs on traditional motifs continue in "Lone Star No. 2," where a minimalist approach is used to deconstruct another popular design into only the merest suggestion of a star shape. "Radiation Vibe" takes on an aesthetic identity beyond the language of traditional quilting; the manipulation of shapes and tonality create an optical illusion evocative of corporate graphics.

Soto's work has hung at the national juried Modern Quilt Guild show in 2015 and 2016. She has studied with acknowledged masters of modern quilt design, learning techniques from Sherri Lynn Wood, Denyse Schmidt, Chawne Kimber, and Carolyn Friedlander. Since 2011 she has taught traditional and modern quilting at Gather Here in Cambridge. She holds a BFA from Parsons School of Design. Her work appears in Rachel May's book, Quilting With a Modern Slant.

Folk Grafika: Modern Quilts is open to the public every Saturday in October from 12 - 4pm at the Washington Street gallery, 321 Washington Street in Somerville, MA. The opening reception is Saturday, October 8th from 5-8pm.