Artwork copyright Marita Dingus. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2016.

Artwork copyright Marita Dingus. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Quilt: Ancestor Coming from the Village, 1994

Marita Dingus
(American, born 1956)

Location: Meadow Ridge Elementary, Kent

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Artist Marita Dingus often incorporates sewing into the creation of her found-object artworks. She was inspired to make an art-quilt after curating an exhibition of quilts for the 1994 Folklife Festival in Seattle. Referencing traditional African arts, Quilt: Ancestor Coming from the Village depicts a lone human figure. Dingus used an improvised process of layering materials until the central form emerged.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Kent School District.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Northwest artist Marita Dingus is an African American feminist and environmental artist. She is a mixed media sculptor who uses discarded and recycled materials. In her own words, “My approach to producing art is environmentally and politically infused: neither waste humanity nor the gifts of nature . . . The discarded materials represent how people of African descent were used during the institution of slavery and colonialism then discarded, but who found ways to repurpose themselves and thrive in a hostile world.”

Dingus received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and both a Master of Arts and Master of Fine Arts from San Jose State University in California. She grew up in Auburn, Western Washington, and still lives and works there. She received the 2018 Twining Humber Award for lifetime artistic achievement.