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About Pelican Quilts
My name is Sarah Gagnon and I live in Madison, Wisconsin. Each of my quilts is based on a traditional design, but is my own composition. My process is slow - I create my own colors on linen with natural dyes, then hand stitch them together with sashiko thread.
While some people write about quilts with a focus on the “how to” aspect, sustainability of the craft, or social justice historieswithin it, my focus is different. My passion is for what I call, a Psychoanalysis of Quilts. I want to know why we quilt, what the craft says about us, and what we can learn from quilts about our humanity.
I am inspired by Freud and his successor, the psychoanalyst and thinker, Jacques Lacan. Lacan borrowed the term the Quilting Point to express how words can operate like stitches, to hold us together into a cohesive whole. I am fascinated with this connection. How stitches hold the layers of a quilt together, forming patterns on the surface. New stitches can function like a new word - it can bring about material changes. I read psychoanalytic theory and enjoy weaving these ideas across technical examinations of quilts, quilters, and the place of these traditions within society.
I’m not a professional academic. I am an artist, writer, and quilter.
What am I doing on here? I decided at the beginning Of 2022 to post one picture a day on Instagram as @pelicanquilts. Here is a video I posted to talk about I was doing there. I used this as a practice space for writing about quilts and quilting. It’s been so exciting to find that not only was that possible (could I actually have this much to say about quilting?) but how encouraging it has been for me. Thank you for following along. The internet is a complicated space for many of us for different reasons. For me it helps to remind myself why I am on here and what I am trying to do. For years I didn’t believe I could be an artist and writer. Over the last few years I decided that I earnestly needed to find my voice and find my way of making marks.
I was struck with the idea that someone who is depressed suffers from too much internality. I hadn’t recognized that I had been suffering from depression until I started getting treatment and healing through psychotherapy and yoga. This has opened up the writing block and creative blocks that I rammed against for many years. I hope someday to write a book or collection of essays - a psychoanalysis of quilts. I’m thankful that you come here to read and follow my quilting journal. It means a lot. Those of you who give feedback on my writing - this is especially meaningful to me. I can’t believe some of the incredible conversions I’ve had with you. I’m a world where I often feel so isolated, I’m so pleased to share this space with you all.