I can’t believe that it has taken me so long to sit down and write this blog post about a quilt I finished in July last year. Especially since the subject matter is the astroquilt that is my personal favourite so far. Or perhaps that is the reason: it means so much to me that I got blocked. Or perhaps it’s the pandemic, and the fact that it pulled the rug from under my feet, and has left me feeling tired and lost. Probably it’s both these reasons and a few more…
On my project blog you can follow my progress on this quilt step by step, so I won’t talk about that here. Instead, I want to talk about the symbolism in the quilt and what it means to me.
The title of this quilt is ‘Universe Inside’, and it alludes to both the brain inside our heads and the cosmic web that is formed by all the galaxies in the universe.
The first time I saw an image of the cosmic web I was first awe-struck, and then I drew a parallel to the neural network of our brain. Both are amazing. Our brain has the capacity to process enormous amounts of information on a both conscious and subconscious level, and when it comes to imagination, there are hardly any limits. We can dream up a whole universe inside our heads.
So what is the cosmic web? The cosmic web is the name for the structure of our universe. The hundreds of billions of galaxies in the observable universe are not randomly distributed, but held together by gravity in groups, clusters and superclusters that, in their turn, form filaments of galaxies with gigantic voids in between. If you zoom out far enough this structure looks like a web, or rather sponge, where everything is connected. The thought arises: is there a cosmic consciousness? Is this the brain of the universe? This is where astronomy brushes up against philosophy and spirituality.
I am deeply moved by the cosmic web and how the whole universe is connected, and that I am a conscious part of all this. In fact, it moves me to tears, because of its beauty and enormity. This is why I chose to include myself in this quilt. The female profile is my face. The cosmic web has replaced the network of brain cells inside my head.
The quilting on my cheek and neck is one of my favourite quotations and by the astronomer Carl Sagan: “The universe is within us. We are made of starstuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.” What this means is that all the elements that out bodies are made of have come from stars that have existed and died. Stars are factories of heavier and heavier elements, and when a star dies it throws all these elements out into space, where they can be reordered into new stars, planets and living beings such as you and me.
The quilting in the background is a mandala. A mandala is a symbolic representation of the cosmos, and of the connection between the self and the universe. It is often used for meditation practises, to help with focus and as a spiritual guidance. It seemed to me that it was the perfect way to tie this quilt together: mandala – brain – self – universe.
You will find all process images here.
Thanks for visiting my blog!
