Margaret Anderson

 

My entry for the 2025 30x30x30 exhibition is a series of quilts. Each quilt is a traditional quilt block with images from that day printed onto fabric then appliqued on top.

 

The pieces were studies in contrast. By placing news headlines against quilts, it created a tension between public and private spheres. By rendering them in a time-consuming medium, I compared the fleeting attention provided to headlines against the sustained attention required for fiber work.

 

I also hoped the pieces would work together as a whole—-visually appearing like a larger quilt when placed together in the grid. My favorite entries to previous 30x30x30 exhibitions had all considered time as one of the mediums of the pieces: bodies of work that showed pieces of the artist’s day-to-day. By using headlines, I hoped my pieces would similarly be rooted in the time of their creation, providing a narrative throughline across the month.

 

The pieces serve as a time capsule of the opening of 2025. I hope the viewer will reflect on which of the news stories are recognizable to them, and how those events fit in the chronologies of their own Januarys.

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1. Day 1: New Year's Day attack in New Orleans, steeplechase

2. Day 2: Ukraine employs low-cost suicide drones against Russia, modified bouquet

3. Day 3: South Koreans protest martial law declaration, flock of geese

4. Day 4: Honduran president threatens to expel US military, corner beam

5. Day 5: Syrians enjoy new freedoms after al-Assad's removal, modified snowball

6. Day 6: Palestinians angered by Trump's threats, square in square

7. Day 7: UK Special Forces face inquiry into war crimes in Afghanistan, unknown block

8. Day 8: Los Angeles wildfires rage, nine patch

9. Day 9: Guantanamo convict sues to stay in US Custody, log cabin

10. Day 10: Migrants face uncertainty at the border, quarter square triangle

11. Day 11: Sudan's military retakes Wad Madani after removing Paramilitary, quarter square triangle

12. Day 12: Cabo Delago provence destroyed by Isis-Mozambique, shoofly

13. Day 13: Biden pushes policies in final weeks, quarter square triangle

14. Day 14: South Korean president brought into custody following impeachment, pinwheel

15. Day 15: Ukraine without power following Russian missile strikes, lady of the lake

16. Day 16: Ceasefire finally reached in Gaza, indian hatchet

17. Day 17: Final migrant caravans attempt to reach US before Trump presidency, twin star

18. Day 18: Maha Kumbh Mela festival begins, chevron

19. Day 19: Tiktok ban (briefly) goes into effect, interlocked squares

20. Day 20: Trump inauguration, one patch

21. Day 21: Southport killer pleads guilty to murder of 3 girls, modified interlocked squares

22. Day 22: Chinese New Year celebrations, snowball

23. Day 23: Australian monuments vandalized to protest national day, quarter square triangles

24. Day 24: Trump deportations begin, attic window

25. Day 25: Haitian children reach a year without school due to gang violence, flying geese

26. Day 26: Trump leaves Paris Climate Accord, drunkard's path

27. Day 27: Dozens dead in Maha Kumbh Mela Stampede, unknown block

28. Day 28: Doomsday clock moves one second closer to midnight, unknown block

29. Day 29: Trump moves migrants to Guantanamo Bay, nine patch

30. Day 30: Thailand legalizes gay marriage, court house steps