Last Port of Call

Audrey Hyvonen, (b.1971)

Abstract Airport, 2023
Cotton

This five panel installation titled, Abstract Airport (2023) is a series of layered and stitched cotton quilts that draw from societal notions of Life’s journey as viewed from the vantage point of an airline traveler.

Presenting as a card full of color, the first in the series is Boarding Pass, (10 x 8in.) This one sources from the assorted color scraps of the middle three “life” panels, presenting all of an individual's possibilities at once. They are ready to start on a big trip and could be going anywhere!

Following a linear progression, the viewer moves from left to right through the positions considered a standard life experience: childhood, adulthood, old age. The titles referencing air travel serve to sequence the passage. The nuance of overlap in these stages is conveyed through the use of color wherein the base color is similar but the tone range deepens in parallel with supposed age and maturity. Arrival Gate (16 x 14 in.) is playful and light, with lots of vertical lines indicating growth and learning. Flight Status (16 x 10 in.) is solid and bold with saturated colors and divided space in the composition, suggesting a tricky balance between confidence and doubt, easily associated with “adulting”. Departures (19 x 12 in.) is an echo of the true state of human vulnerability, showcased in the expanses of unstitched sections that pucker and wrinkle from the pull of their sure stitched neighbors. The depth of experience held in this stage of life (whatever age one reaches at this time) is shown through the richness of color chosen for this third representative “life” panel.

The final destination is reached with the indistinct landscape: Last Port of Call (24 x 48 in.). Presuming a place of balance and invitation, this endmost image provides a soothing cushion for the mind to consider when contemplating what comes after the journey. The textural quality of the layers is exaggerated and fluffy with carefree movement created through the lines in both the sky and the ground. With no clear direction to follow, the viewer is drawn back into the piece by three surface blocks, where the eye can rest and linger. Eventually, the pull of the light diagonal river line brings the viewer out of the image and leaves them with their own imagination of what might come next.