Label Type
Cultural/Historical ContextLabel
Christina Ramberg (American, 1946 – 1995)
Overlap, 1985-86
Wool and cotton
Collection of DePaul Art Museum, gift of Jerrold and Madelyn Seckler
2016.150
Christina Ramberg was one of the few women included in the Chicago Imagists, a group of artists whose representational work was influenced by Surrealism, reference comics, and popular culture. She is best known for her impeccably detailed paintings of sexualized objects, from women in garter belts and bodices, to curvilinear urns and silky-smooth locks of hair.
Ramberg started quilting in the 1970s during a period of “painter’s block” in her work.
Quite different from her painting, the quilts featured bold colors and loose patterning. She specifically sites African-American quilts from the south as influences. “They’re the equivalent of jazz...they break the rules, and the result is some of the most exuberant things you’ve ever seen. Making these quilts taught me that you can do what you want, you don’t have to control everything.” Stigmatized by critics as a strictly “female” or “craft practice,” Ramberg’s quilts were rarely exhibited. Today, however, quilting has exploded in popularity, with museums across the world adding exquisite examples to their collections.