Nancy Morrison Crow is an American art quilter and fiber artist. She is one of the leading figures in the development of the art quilting movement of the 1970s and 1980s, and is also known for her development of certain techniques to allow more spontaneity and expression.
Early life and education
Crow was born in 1943 in the small town of Loudonville, Ohio. She is the youngest of eight children. Crow studied ceramics and weaving at Ohio State University where she earned a BFA in 1965 and a MFA in 1969.
Quilting
In 1979, Crow began to concentrate seriously on quilt making. Her emphasis from the beginning was on graphic power of color. In her early quilts, she juxtaposed traditional quilt patterns like the Log Cabin block with vibrant color combinations. Her later works use her own asymmetrical designs. Crow is one of the leading figures in the development of the art quilting movement of the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1990s, Crow developed freeform cutting techniques allowing for more spontaneity and personal expression. She says of her work: In 1979 Crow co-founded of the Quilt National exhibitions, a juried biennial exhibition of contemporary quilt art. In 1994, she established a teaching workshop on the farm where she lives, near Baltimore, Ohio.
Quilt series
Newe
Bittersweet In 1979 Crow and her husband moved to a 50-acre farm west of Baltimore, Ohio. Bittersweet is a series of 22 quilts produced during the three-year period after she and her husband moved to the farm.
Tramp Art
Passion A series of five quilts Crow created while she cared for her dying mother.
Yellow Crosses'
Lady of Guadalupe
Jacob's Ladder
Amish Paisley
Mexican Wheels
Double Mexican Wedding Rings This series combines the traditional Double Wedding Ring block with innovative changes in the scale of the blocks and her dramatic use of color.
Color Blocks IColor Blocks I comprised three quilts: Color Blocks #1, Color Blocks #2, Color Blocks #3. These three quilts explore visual complexity. In 1990 Crow returned to the Color Blocks series and created Color Blocks #4, which explores the square as a motif.
Bow Tie This series of 13 quilts explores the traditional quilt block Bow Tie in the context of abstract expressionist painting and asymmetrical shapes. Using simple shapes and simple formats, Crow explores the figure/ground relationship.
Chinese Souls In September 1990, Crow visited Xi'an in Shaanxi Province in China. While there she witnessed an episode of police brutality. Trucks filled with young men were driven around the city by the police with the sirens blaring. The young men had committed crimes and were scheduled to be executed. Crow created a series of quilts in which the circle represented the souls of the men scheduled to be executed, color threads symbolized the ropes around their necks.
Constructions This series comprises more than 75 quilts. They mark Crow's ongoing explorations of shape and the actions of sewing, cutting and re-sewing to form complex patterns.
