"Make a Way", a collaborative exhibit by Ileana Soto

In November of 2024, I was part of an exhibit called “Make a Way,” with three other textile artists. Why that title? We four artists were influenced by the life and work of civil rights activist and U.S Representative from Atlanta, GA, John R Lewis. We wanted to honor his legacy and inspiration. His quotes include: “make a big noise, make good trouble”, and of course, ‘find a way, make a way, out of no way.’ “Make a Way” is a collection of work in cloth and paper, created in response to our country’s voting rights crisis that became alarming in 2021. Southern and Midwestern states began to make it more difficult for disenfranchised citizens to vote, even to register to vote. Our alarm was palpable; we wanted to speak out. Dye, paint, photo transfer, collage, and stitch, were used to express our outrage, pathos, and commitment to “find a way, make a way, out of no way” - to preserve our Democracy as well as educate and promote community interaction and conversation. We four women are friends who worked for three years on creating pieces for this exhibit. We formed a partnership through our association with Jane Dunnewold and her Independent Study workshops held in 2018-2020. With the pandemic, we met monthly on Zoom. We continue to meet, and we continue to add pieces to our body of work. We exhibited this juried show in November 2024 at Gallery Route One in Point Reyes, CA. Our hope is that we will be able to bring this exhibition to another venue during these increasingly fraught times. “We will find a way, make a way, out of no way.”

We four artists are: Myself, Ileana Soto, of the SF Bay Area, CA, active member of Art Cloth Network. “Stained and Tattered”, made in 2021, expresses my concern that we as a nation are losing our way. The stained and tattered flag image is made of hand printed Mulberry paper placed on a linen background. The flag has murky figures – maybe powerful, shadowy forces. My mending is meant for you to viscerally feel how difficult it is to find a way, make a way, when you experience impending anti-democratic forces. Today and tomorrow, much more mending is needed.

Pat DaRif lives in Fort Wayne, IN, and her piece is called “Restricted Access”. Her powerful piece has fragile strips of newspaper and silk with the world VOTE. They are delicately hand-embroidered, the strips woven between the wire grid of lacquered fencing. The question: Can the structure hold against the coming pressure to yield?

Joanne Weis lives in Louisville, KY. Her powerful piece, “The Price of a Vote”, refers to the summer of 1964 in Mississippi when 3 young men, assisting black voters with voting rights, are murdered in June by KKK members. Their bodies were not found until 2 months later.

Valerie White lives in Denver CO. In “A Cloud of Witnesses”, Valerie uses roots as a metaphor for the ways that our lives are interdependent and interwoven. She references the Black Church, a place of safety, a place that encouraged African Americans to vote and guided their members to find ways to vote more safely.

I want to share with you a selection of my pieces for the “Make a Way” exhibit. “V is for Voting” is a whole-cloth piece made from the application of thickened dye through large screens onto a single piece of cloth. There is no cutting or piecing involved. The composition was complete simply through the screen work without additions other than stitch (this is rare). After its completion, I wanted to title it. As I looked at it, I said to myself: those triangles are V’s; V is for Voting! These triangles have become a constant motif in my voting rights series. In “Barbie Votes”, you see that same screen used differently, with additions of new shapes and paint over the printed cloth (the pink). I thought, during the popularity of the 2023 Barbie movie, that Barbie wants to be taken seriously. If Mattel gave her a voice, she would encourage her followers to vote.

“On the Wings of Freedom” uses triangles differently. They appear in many sizes and are transformed into wings.

In “Upheaval”, the triangles are in the background, but they also erupt over and above to dramatically upend what’s come before them, hence, an upheaval.

I learned something important, for me, from this exhibit: the importance of community. Seeing each other’s pieces on Zoom gave only one dimension. To see them in person, together, the whole became greater than the sum of its parts. The unique contributions of each artist intertwined as we each balanced our message with the principles of art: color, design, composition, rhythm … and strong passion! Those who came to the opening reception were moved. I hope we will find another venue so you, too, can see the exhibit. What’s next? We have already begun to respond, visually, to what is, and how it’s happening. We will document what we see and feel. We will make a big noise. We will bring hope. I encourage your voices to be heard, as we all look to “find a way, make a way out of the fears of ‘no way.”