AMY MEISSNER
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The 7th box of mystery.

2/8/2016

6 Comments

 
Twenty women have presented me with textiles now. Some I've shared correspondence with in advance, others have popped things in the mail without notice or slipped me doilies at parties while I madly scribbled notes, "...and where did you say your grandmother is from again...? ...uh huh, so you think she made this when?"

I have a spreadsheet. I'm tagging items. I'm sending teeny tiny gifts and thank you cards. And while much of this makes NO SENSE in terms of what the final outcome will or may be, it feels like a vital part of this process. It's about mark-making, acknowledging, listening, communicating and naming what I can, even if much of it is "Unknown."

Amy Meissner, textile artist | From the post The 7th box of mystery | www.amymeissner.com/blog/the-7th-box-of-mystery

The items that arrived a few weeks ago from Helen Geglio are ladened with details. She took the time to sit with each object, to remember and document the life around each item as best she could. The notes are beautiful to look at and I've gone back a number of times to re-read her thoughts while holding each object.

I've never met Helen, but I first discovered her work through the video series Quilt National produced this year*. I watched her speak eloquently about her inspiration, her use of clothing and old fabrics and the conceptual quality of her work. She is a seer and a noticer, and from this -- most wonderful of all -- she is a producer. All qualities I admire.

Part of this kind of mark-making speaks to my own fragile memory and need for written reminders. A friend in undergraduate school said, "See, I know I'm taking enough notes in class if I look over and see I've got exactly half of what you wrote." I still don't know how I feel about that comment 2 decades later. Here are Helen's contributions to the Inheritance Project (yes, it now has a name...fitting, yes?), the headings are mine -- they're how I think of each of these items -- but the excerpts are from her writings.

The Bathing Beauty.

Amy Meissner, textile artist | From the post The 7th box of mystery | www.amymeissner.com/blog/the-7th-box-of-mystery
Maker: Unknown; Origin: church rummage sale, South Bend IN. From the estate of Joan Wagner; Circa: possibly mid-20th century.

"...Joan (pronounced Jo Ann) was well known in our community as an advocate for justice and peace, and worked tirelessly to make a better world (...) Joan is standing at the left with her friends. They are at one of the Lake Michigan beaches near us -- maybe Indiana Dunes, New Buffalo or Warren Dunes. By the swimsuits I would say late '40's, early '50's?"
​

The Valentines.

Amy Meissner, textile artist | From the post The 7th box of mystery | www.amymeissner.com/blog/the-7th-box-of-mystery
Makers: Unknown; Origin: e-bay dealer, Boynton Beach, FL & South Bend, IN; Circa: Unknown, possibly early to mid-20th century
Amy Meissner, textile artist | From the post The 7th box of mystery | www.amymeissner.com/blog/the-7th-box-of-mystery
Maker: Aunt Alyda (1914 - 2007); Sioux County, Iowa; Circa: Unknown

"... Aunt Alyda was the 4th of 12 children born in to an immigrant family from the Netherlands. She was very close to my father, who was also a teacher. She married in her 40's, to a widower whose children had been in her class (...) The real keepsakes were the Valentines she saved from her long career as a 3rd grade teacher..."
​

Maybe Grandma LeVett.

Amy Meissner, textile artist | From the post The 7th box of mystery | www.amymeissner.com/blog/the-7th-box-of-mystery
Maker: Unknown; Origin: probably Chicago, IL, later found near Detroit, MI; Circa: possibly early 20th century

​"...I had a whole stash of little domestic linens that I took to my mom's assisted living facility to show her. She cheerfully told me she had 'no idea where that came from,' to which my dad piped in, 'we got a lot of that kind of stuff from Grandma LeVett' (...) she loved beautiful things, so this may be something that drifted through time to me..."

Woman, Imprisoned.

Amy Meissner, textile artist | From the post The 7th box of mystery | www.amymeissner.com/blog/the-7th-box-of-mystery
Maker: Amelia; Origin: Detroit, MI; Circa: 1970's

​"(...) the voice of this cloth is so strong I wanted you to have a piece of it. Amelia was incarcerated in the Detroit House of Correction (known as DeHoCo) for killing her abusive husband. My mom was involved with an AAUW prison visitation group and commissioned this tablecloth so that Amelia would have some money when released. She had a sharp attorney who went to work on her appeal and she was released from custody on the grounds of self defense. My father was called to DeHoCo and drove her to a relative's home. I don't think she was in touch after her release and the tablecloth met with a "laundry accident," but was not thrown away..."

*This is Helen Geglio speaking about her work exhibited at Quilt National 2015.
​

If you are new to this blog and aren't sure what's going on but would like to learn more, please check out the category Boxes Of Mystery there on the side bar. You could start with the first Box of Mystery, or a post called Splitting open the idea. That'll get you up to speed.

You can also now follow the #InheritanceProject on Instagram: @amymeissnerartist.
It's kind of fun.

And lastly, a year ago, I wrote this.
​
6 Comments
Constance Tucker link
2/8/2016 04:59:32 pm

Wonderful idea! Are you still accepting pieces? I am growing old and would love to find a home for a couple.

Reply
Amy Meissner link
2/8/2016 05:18:09 pm

Constance,
Yes, I am still accepting pieces. Thank you for reading and asking -- I will email you separately from this blog and send you some further information.
XO
Amy

Reply
Lauren Rader link
2/9/2016 06:49:26 am

This is such a lovely, loving project on so many levels. I find the care and thoughtfulness that you and the sender are showing to the work and the maker to be something very beautiful, as are the pieces themselves. Thank you for sharing. In part I see it as noticing and appreciating the quiet, steadfast, loving work of women.

Reply
Amy Meissner link
2/9/2016 08:44:44 am

Lauren,
Thank you for your introspective thoughts on this. I think there is an undercurrent of beauty and great care with these objects, for sure. There is also a vein of darkness and the "not knowing." It is the "not knowing" that I'm very drawn to and am willing to pick at until I reveal some sort of truth -- whether a "real" truth, or a fiction that reveals a greater truth. I'm inspired every day by this effort.
Thank you for taking the time to read and comment!
XO
Amy

Reply
Stephanie Westerhout
2/9/2016 11:26:56 am

Amy, I am so deeply touched by what you are creating with the Inheritance Project. I have always been one to save every letter, card, fabrics, hand-me-downs from my mother, you name it. And fairly organized about it, too. (My childhood family is all gone so every item was greatly treasured.) A daughter-in-law also had given me a wealth of beautifully embroidered pieces made by her aunt. Then, just over 6 years ago, our home burned to the ground. Literally nothing left but ashes. Everything gone. Okay, start again. But nothing, of course, replaces those lost treasures. (And new fabrics, no matter how beautiful, don’t yet have that connection of heart and history.) So I read your posts with great interest and appreciation. Thank you so much for sharing what you are doing.

Reply
Amy Meissner link
3/5/2016 09:00:34 am

Stephanie,
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment here after reading my post. I grew up with the knowledge that my dad's home burned to the ground, too. His story starts with the principal coming to his classroom to tell him and ends with the guilt he still feels for not emptying the water from the frozen hose like he'd been asked to months before. Of course, this small maintenance gesture wouldn't have touched the spark-lit leaves gathered on the roof, but as a boy, he took great responsibility. My grandmother didn't grab the photo albums tucked "safely" in a closet, or her jewelry box (she would decades later show me what a charred pearl ring looked like), instead panicked and grabbed the Corian dishes on the drying rack. While it is in part a coming of age and loss of innocence for my dad, no one died. And the story is powerful, as is yours. Thank you so much for sharing it here. I'm sorry you experienced such a tremendous loss.
XO
Amy

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    Amy Meissner, textile artist. Photo credit Brian Adams, 2013. www.amymeissner.com

    Amy Meissner

    Artist in Anchorage, Alaska, sometimes blogging about the collision of history, family & art, with the understanding that none exists without the other.

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