I have a fine arts degree in painting but I never felt it connected with me. I was struggling to find my own voice when one of my professors at Howard University noted that I always dressed in a multitude of patterns and textures. One day he looked at my paint splattered combat boots and lace palazzo pants and suggested I use fabric in my work. He advised me to look at the collages of Romare Bearden and incorporate fabric into my paintings. It wasn’t until I was studying for my masters that I made my first quilt, abandoning the canvas all together. — Bisa Butler

In conjunction with the Art Institute of Chicago exhibition BISA BUTLER—PORTRAITS, Nancy Chen will lead a conversation focused on the artist’s creative process.

See link below to register for this online event.

NANCY CHEN—SPOTLIGHT ON BISA BUTLER

Art Institute of Chicago

Wednesday, November 18.

Noon on the West Coast; 2 pm Chicago; 3 pm East Coast.

Bisa Butler, Portraits, Art Institute of Chicago, November 16, 2020–April 19, 2021, from top: Dear Mama, 2019, quilted and appliquéd cotton, wool and chiffon, collection of Scott and Cissy Wolfe; Anaya with Oranges, 2017, Dimmitt Davies Collection; I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 2019; Southside Sunday Morning, 2018; The Broom Jumpers, 2019, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum; The Safety Patrol, 2018, Cavigga Family Trust Fund. Images © Bisa Butler, courtesy of the artist and Claire Oliver Gallery, New York.