Andrea Cullins

Artist Bio:

ANDI CULLINS – 2ND LIFE QUILTER’S COLLECTION

Andi Cullins is a largely self-taught art quilter.  She began her art career in 2019, post retirement, after a career in executive search and coaching.  She considers herself an emerging artist at age 70.   Referring to herself as the Grandma Moses of fiber art, she says she is “aging to perfection”.  She now operates as Second Life Quilter and can be found on Face Book and on the web. 

Ms. Cullins refers to her body of work as CODE SWITCH, in which she uses primarily African and Australian Aboriginal prints, along with her own hand-dyed and commercial fabrics, to create scenes, portraits and abstracts. In these works, she “paints” with the fabric, creating mosaics and collages.

Her solo exhibitions range from being the feature visual artist for Prince George’s County Juneteenth Celebration (2021), to her most recent solo shows at the Art League Gallery, The Torpedo Factory Arts Center, and The Virginia Quilt Museum, earlier this year.  Her work has earned several Best in Show awards at various exhibitions. Several of her pieces are now in municipal and private collections in the US, and she has been published in international art journals. 

Memberships

African African Fiber Arts Guild 

St. Mary’s Arts Council
Washington County Arts Council
Maryland State Arts Council  
The Art League, Torpedo Factory, Alex. Va. 
Potomac Fiber Arts Guild, Washington DC metro 
Studio Art Quilt Association, International 
Education; Catholic University of America 1974 B.A.  

Contact: andicullins@icloud.com

Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/2nd-Life-Quilters-Collection-106746890956087

Website: www.Secondlifequilter.com

Artist Statement:

Imagine you’ve lived your entire life without ever uttering a word. And then, suddenly, you could speak!  What would you say? Would you whisper? Would you shout? Would you sing? That is what it is like to be an emerging artist at the age of 70; to finally find my voice.

I have been in love with fabrics for as long as I can remember. The colors and patterns speak to me. They whisper, they shout, they sing. They call out to me to “paint” with them.  When I see a scene, I see it in fabrics. Each of my quilts is hand cut and laid and is the product of my own imagination or my interpretation of nature.  

In linguists, Code Switch happens when a  speaker of two or more languages integrates phrases from one language into a single phrase or conversation of another (mainstream) language.  In my CODE SWITCH collection, there is a strong emphasis on the use of traditional African wax prints and Australian Aboriginal cottons along with batiks.  These are combined with western fabrics and non-conventional materials including reclaimed and recycled materials, strings, ribbons, metallic threads, buttons, cheesecloth, beads, sequins, tulle, lace, suede and leather. I attempt to uphold a zero-waste philosophy and use many of my fabrics in multiple applications.  Methods include traditional pieced quilting, machine turned and raw-edge appliqué, fabric mosaics and collage, and embroidery.   

My intention in CODE SWITCH is to invite the viewer to see these ethnic patterns in a new context in which they are part of familiar objects, scenes and icons.