5.13.2011

Foreclosure : Detroit Quilt

I finished the Detroit Foreclosure Quilt yesterday. This one was a different situation than my previous pieces, it should really be called Detroit Demolished. I couldn't figure out why there were no foreclosures on the maps, it's because you had to look at aerial photos of the neighborhoods to see just what happened.


Detroit Foreclosure Quilt, 2011. 22" x 44" Cheesecloth, linen and cotton.
Most of the blocks are red because most of the homes have been razed after being abandoned for several years. There are an average of forty homes on each block and hundreds of them are completely gone. Here's an example of two of those blocks.


Detroit Foreclosure Quilt detail, 2011. 22" x 44" Cheesecloth, linen and cotton
The city had no choice but to demolish them. Granted a lot of the people left Detroit because there also wasn't much employment leaving no one to buy up these homes. Much of Detroit looks like this. This neighborhood shown is just a few blocks from Grosse Point, a affluent, established neighborhood.

The back of the quilt looks completely different from the front, the only lot lines I stitched were those adjacent to demolished homes. There are quite a lot of them.


Detroit Foreclosure Quilt back detail, 2011. 22" x 44" Cheesecloth, linen and cotton.
To see more pictures of Detroit abandoned homes, click here. A really sad but true image of one of the US's most vibrant cities. To read more on foreclosures, click here.

11 comments:

Kitty Kilian said...

Awesome to see one of them finished! You can feel the desolation a little.. Well done!

Victoria said...

Chilling and powerful work, Kathryn. Interestingly, the piece itself looks like a city brick row home. Very well done.

Claire said...

This is wonderful and thought provoking work.

Jen said...

That really does illustrate the situation and adds amazing meaning to a quilt. Great job!

arounna said...

it turned out beautifully
it has a nice sense of decay

Sophie Truong said...

beautifully done.. and very powerful. so are those pics on flickr..

anastasia said...

once demolished, it's a shame that the city can't go in and make green spaces, community gardens, something that could help the people left come together as a stronger neighborhood. we seem to be only capable of destruction, when there are so many opportunities to make things better.

kathrynclark said...

Thanks so much for the feedback everyone! Anastasia, so true, and that's exactly what I plan to tackle in my next piece in Cleveland. They've replanted some lots with community gardens! It will be nice to add back an extra layer to the quilt!

Jaime Rugh said...

Oh my, what a stunning piece Kathryn!

Lari Washburn said...

powerful, beautiful, thought-provoking.

**EYE-SNACKS** said...

wow,Kathryn..it's very very visual for me!Beautiful work and scary reality overthere!

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