Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives - Natalie Baxter & Julia Norton
During peak COVID quarantine it seemed as if every Instagram scroll included a DIY project - bread baking, mushroom-growing, or quilting, among others. These projects helped us pass the time while also nourishing our bodies. They fostered a sense of community, enabling us to share our progress and encourage each other, and providing small moments of connection and joy in an otherwise desolate and isolating landscape.
Days of our Lives, a collaborative piece by Natalie Baxter and Julia Norton, was made in the spirit of creating objects of care while homebound. Norton dyed fabrics using food waste materials, including onion skins and avocado pits. Images inspired by the theme were cut from the fabric by both artists, arranged in a pattern recalling 19th-century appliqué quilt traditions, and sewn by Baxter onto a larger banner.
Referential images appear frequently in Norton’s paintings, created with natural colorants that she collects. Baxter’s hand-sewn technique - inherited from her grandmother - is central to her practice, which explores gender roles in traditional mainstream American society. This piece marries both artists’ techniques. It offers symbolic imagery displayed as a flag or emblem, manifesting as both a badge of honor and an act of care.