THE GALLERY AT STUDIO IX PRESENTS
HOME VALUES
QUILTS BY KATIE CHESTER
Opening Reception / Friday, September 11th, 5-7PM
Exhibit dates / Sept 4 - Nov 1
Gallery Hours / M-F, 8-4, Sat & Sun 8-2
Artist Talk / Thursday, September 24th, 5-6PM
Songs from My Belly, 2023, 46” x 65”, machine-pieced and hand-quilted cotton.
About the exhibit
Neatly patterned quilts have long been hallmarks of a loving, well-ordered home. Their symmetrical designs and small, even stitches speak to ideals of tidy conformity and smooth veneers.
Home Values, an exhibition of quilts by Katie Chester, is both visually striking and intellectually provocative. Reimagining these symbols of domestic warmth, Chester’s quilts propose an image of comfort not beholden to pattern. Chester writes, “As an adult woman who has neither wed nor bred, I live outside society’s templates. Upending orthodox standards of passive feminine domesticity, my quilts present a vision of home that is vibrant and irreverent. An invitation to a world that cannot be ironed flat, my work dances with the tension of the unexpected, and gives voice to my own journey.”
Violet & Rusty: First Date, 2023, 45” x 48”, machine-pieced and hand-quilted cotton.
About the artist
Katie Chester received a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Virginia, and a BFA in Graphic Design from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). She later worked as the in-house Art Director for RISD before running her own graphic design studio for 25 years. As the computer transformed the graphic design industry from physical paste-up to digital design, the profession ceased being a tactile practice. As a way to keep her hands and eyes in conversation, in 2017, Katie began stitching. Now retired from graphic design, Katie is a full-time textile artist based in Charlottesville, VA.
Sprout, 2026, 50” x 61”, machine-pieced, hand-quilted and free-motion-machine-quilted cotton.