Pau Pau by Maddie Han
Many of my childhood memories include my maternal grandma, or my pau pau, in some way. Whether it was bumping my head on the top bar of the slide in Pre-K when I saw her come pick me up, driving to Palo Alto every year for my birthday, or sneaking one more sour lifesaver candy from the center console in her car, my grandma has always been a big part of my life. As I got older, I slowly became more aware–and interested in– her main passion: quilting. Pau pau, who I nicknamed Poppy when I was little, has always loved quilting, and it’s one of the main things I associate with her now. When she isn’t hanging out with us, she is always in her quilting room making her next masterpiece. On big occasions: a family member’s birth, a birthday, middle school graduation, etc, you can always expect a special quilt from her. My first step into the quilting world was when I was 8, and my grandma helped me enter a youth quilting competition. For my quilt, I sewed an image of Dorothy going to the Emerald City (Wizard of Oz), and ended up winning 2nd place. Despite this, as time passed I pretty much forgot about quilting, and sewing in general.
When I was brainstorming ideas for the Winter Art Show, I randomly came across the work of Luke Haynes. I was immediately captured by his ‘revival’ of quilting, a practice that I tended to only associate with older people (like Poppy). This reinvention of quilting was intriguing to me, and something I wanted to explore further through the art show. Thinking about this, I set my mind to ‘reviving’ quilting like Luke Haynes – but with my own twist. In this project, I wanted to explore storytelling and modernity through quilting; showing a person and memories of that person through symbols, colors, and pictures. In my quilt, I wanted to have a big picture that immediately caught your attention, as well as smaller details interspersed throughout the quilt. I juxtaposed a basic and traditional patchwork pattern background with a large, contemporary, boldly colored, image of Poppy as a young woman. Small details like California poppy flowers (her nickname and birthplace) and buttons (something she and her mother used to collect) served as a way to tie together concrete aspects of her past identity with personal memories and touches.
