Dr. Myrah Brown Green: Talking Quilts

There is a primordial desire to better understand ourselves and our place within the world. The struggle to do so compounded by the energies and experiences beyond the physical self that fuse together as our identities take shape and evolve over time. Dr. Myrah Brown Green dissects the intricate nature of life itself through a solo exhibition of autobiographical textile works entitled “Talking Quilts” at Richard Beavers Gallery Brooklyn August 26, 2023 through October 7, 2023.

For Dr. Brown Green, the nuanced and complex nature of exploring the intersection of the physical, cultural, and spiritual, mirrors the layered and piecing found in the construction of quilts. While a keystone of her artistic practice, her quilts become a tool beyond their presumed utilitarian function. Coalescing traditional techniques of the craft and her contemporary vision, she channels the historic use of quilted imagery with the modern responsibility to preserve the oral histories that are essential to our collective identities. Similarly, Dr. Brown engages her quilts as a means for remembrance, unification, and acknowledgment of the intangible aspects of the lived experience of Black women in today’s society.

The collection of quilted pieces share stories that resonate with but also challenge viewers as they embark on an introspective journey of new depths. Through nine quilted pieces, of varying monumental scale, Dr. Brown Green invites us to take a look at the multiple roles she embodies that combine to create an authentic portrait of the artist. Mother, teacher, and woman, are among the figures who take shape as the warrior and the administrator, among others. Dr. Brown Green explores the states of consciousness that surround these roles, presenting the unseen in visual forms. In her mastery, Dr. Brown Green encapsulates a fluidity between the technical and historical skills of quilt construction with her own expressive nature as she tackles these personal revelations with the Free Motion style of quilting. In the play between the figurative and the abstract, she invites us to reconceive our sense of self on a spiritual and metaphysical level.

In her work, the figurative devolves into the abstract. People appear without their distinguishing facial features, inviting viewers to see themselves or those they know within the context of the work. Seemingly disparate objects, such as wings or African cowry shells, manifest deeper emotions or states of consciousness in the form of visual metaphors. With an extensive academic background as an art historian, consultant, and curator, she channeled her studies into the field of World Symbols coding her dreamlike scenes with intense symbolism. While often autobiographical in her narrative and representative choices, these works speak to a greater experience of the modern human condition. Forcing viewers into the role of detective or even spiritual archeologist, as they unveil the physical and subtextual layers of Dr. Brown’s captivating work.

For Dr. Brown Green, the nuanced and complex nature of exploring the intersection of the physical, cultural, and spiritual, mirrors the layered and piecing found in the construction of quilts. While a keystone of her artistic practice, her quilts become a tool beyond their presumed utilitarian function. Coalescing traditional techniques of the craft and her contemporary vision, she channels the historic use of quilted imagery as her contribution to the modern responsibility to preserve the oral histories that are essential to our collective identities. Similarly, Dr. Brown Green engages her quilts as a means for remembrance, unification, and acknowledgment of the intangible aspects of the lived experience of Black women in today’s society.