Penny Mateer, Pittsburgh, PA based artist with “A Plea to Congress: ‘Make It Stop’, 6/11/2020”, 2020, Blanket, 50 x 60 inches in “Deadlocked and Loaded”. Penny and I have worked together for years and she is one of the eight women artists (including myself) in a traveling exhibition titled “Embedded Messages, Debating the Dream: Truth, Justice and the American Way”. Mateer’s work is always so insightful with many messages to decipher. She focuses on fiber arts, quilts, blankets etc. Many of them are made from collages she creates. I so admire her leadership as an activist in her community and at large and her dedication to creating these series of important works.
Mateer says, “The President of the United States, Donald Trump, better known for his reality television show and the art of the deal than his political experience or acumen, is steering the national conversation via Twitter by questioning the veracity of traditional news sources. To chronicle this time in our nation’s history, on January 22, 2017 (President Trump’s inauguration) I launched a series, In Today’s News. Acting as “photojournalist,” I respond to the contents of each daily edition (Monday-Saturday) of The New York Times by merging multiple images of one day into a 5” x 7” hand-cut collage. The title of each is a headline or highlighted text. For economical large-scale printing and immediacy, I print the work on common objects to make difficult topics more accessible and to encourage the viewer to consider the impact of the “ready made” president.”
Penny Mateer, artist/activist, works with textiles and recycled materials. Her art is rooted in quilting and embroidery, traditionally thought of as “women’s work.” Drawing from this rich history of creating functional objects intended to provide warmth and comfort, she chooses fabric as her primary material to establish connection through shared experience and spark discussion around current events. Her social practice centers on a community-made public art project to promote voting. Mateer lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Learn more at PennyMateer.com and @pennymateer
