Racism — The White Elephant in the Room #1

My quilt “Racism — the White Elephant in the Room#1” was inspired by an old saying “the elephant in the room”. The saying means there is an obvious problem but no one wants to talk about it. As the country erupted into social justice consciousness last year, I was inspired to make this quilt because in my mind, the elephant in the room is racism (intentional or unintentional) — the obvious problem that no one likes to talk about.

“Racism — the White Elephant in the Room #1” combines both piecing and applique in a 26x28 inch art quilt. The white elephant is appliquéd to a pieced rail fence background using a machine blanket stitch. The appliquéd block is framed by red and white sashing including a parade of elephants.

I lovingly hand quilted “Racism — the White Elephant in the Room #1” with red thread. I embellished it with the word “racism”, added white buttons on the elephant for more dimension and accented my signature with three elephant charms.

There is a hanging sleeve on the back and a label that documents the quilt. I signed it on the front.

This quilt is one-of-a-kind, but “Racism — the White Elephant in the Room #2” is its companion piece. # 1 is part of my Long Time Coming exhibit.