ALLEGIANCE
Slemmons Gallery
July 19, 2024 – August 31, 2024
Stunned by the results of the 2016 election, Chicago artist Sara Peak Convery began to make political artwork, reconfiguring new and used U.S. flags to express her distress with national politics. Initially she used traditional quilt patterns, such as in Sum of Its Parts: Patterns of Patriotism (2017). Later, she began to incorporate words: HATE (My Fear Makes You Dangerous) and FEAR (Divided States of America), words that seemed to be at the root of the issue.
As the 2020 election neared, Convery was reminded of a lyric from the 1968 Vietnam-era rock musical Hair that resonated with her since childhood: “I fell through a hole in the flag/I’m falling through a hole in the flag.” This sentiment of national decline inspired her panel painting We Are Failing as We Are Falling (2020).
After Biden’s election, Convery created HEAL, her largest word piece to date. Using the electoral college votes (306 blue/Democrat and 232 red/Republican) to determine the number of fabric squares, she constructed a diagonal pattern using 6 shades of red and blue to spell out the four letters. She began the quilt prior to the January 6th riot on the U.S. Capitol and while the world grappled with the COVID 19 pandemic, though was not able to emotionally face the project until later that year, after receiving her first COVID vaccine.
Disturbed by the persistence of ‘The Big Lie,’ Convery created Go Big or Go Home using red and white stripes to form the word LIE. The first version was stolen while on exhibit at the Indianapolis Art Center in the spring of 2022. Subsequently, Convery recreated Go Big or Go Home 2 using two larger flags.
Convery continues to make works that address the political and humanitarian problems of contemporary America. She also works with found art and discarded objects, making new works of art with the materials at hand.
Click HERE for more information on gallery hours and private appointments.
ALLEGIANCE
Slemmons Gallery
July 19, 2024 – August 31, 2024
Stunned by the results of the 2016 election, Chicago artist Sara Peak Convery began to make political artwork, reconfiguring new and used U.S. flags to express her distress with national politics. Initially she used traditional quilt patterns, such as in Sum of Its Parts: Patterns of Patriotism (2017). Later, she began to incorporate words: HATE (My Fear Makes You Dangerous) and FEAR (Divided States of America), words that seemed to be at the root of the issue.
As the 2020 election neared, Convery was reminded of a lyric from the 1968 Vietnam-era rock musical Hair that resonated with her since childhood: “I fell through a hole in the flag/I’m falling through a hole in the flag.” This sentiment of national decline inspired her panel painting We Are Failing as We Are Falling (2020).
After Biden’s election, Convery created HEAL, her largest word piece to date. Using the electoral college votes (306 blue/Democrat and 232 red/Republican) to determine the number of fabric squares, she constructed a diagonal pattern using 6 shades of red and blue to spell out the four letters. She began the quilt prior to the January 6th riot on the U.S. Capitol and while the world grappled with the COVID 19 pandemic, though was not able to emotionally face the project until later that year, after receiving her first COVID vaccine.
Disturbed by the persistence of ‘The Big Lie,’ Convery created Go Big or Go Home using red and white stripes to form the word LIE. The first version was stolen while on exhibit at the Indianapolis Art Center in the spring of 2022. Subsequently, Convery recreated Go Big or Go Home 2 using two larger flags.
Convery continues to make works that address the political and humanitarian problems of contemporary America. She also works with found art and discarded objects, making new works of art with the materials at hand.
Click HERE for more information on gallery hours and private appointments.
Sara Peak Convery is a Chicago-based artist who works in a variety of media.
Sara Peak Convery is a Chicago-based artist who works in a variety of media.
