ON BEYOND GINGHAM : In Brea, a Show Annuls Any Notion That Quilt-Making Came and Went With Prairie Life

If the word quilt conjures up thoughts of calico and gingham, fat pot-bellied stoves and rugged covered wagons, then a visit to the Brea Civic and Cultural Center Gallery may prove enlightening.

On view through April 12 is the “New Wave Quilt Collection,” a group show that quickly should annul any notion that quilt-making came and went with prairie life.

Skyscrapers, lion cubs, African masks and planet Earth are among the images in these works, examples of a contemporary quilt-making style that has flourished in the past decade. They have been crafted with an array of colorful materials--from hand-dyed cotton to gold lame to silk, leather, beads and bamboo--into shapes that range from square to kimono-like.

“We are always looking for something different, something progressive,” said Japanese-born artist and Brea resident Setsuko Segawa, who organized the display and recently published a book with the same name as the exhibit. “I always want the mental challenge of new possibilities.”

Segawa, who included 18 of her own quilts and 30 others by 15 American artists from around the country, often focuses on nature, using air-brushed paint to create serene tableaux that recall her native country’s graceful cranes, floating clouds, white magnolias or falling leaves.

She branches out with a quilt framing a blazing sun fashioned with various shiny metallic shades of woven lame, and one depicting New York City’s steel and concrete skyline (its multiwindowed buildings are made of silk ties. “In those skyscrapers,” she noted, “there are businessmen, so the ties fit the theme.”)

Other artists have stitched dazzling geometric patterns and abstract designs, and many express environmental concerns: Nancy N. Erickson’s lion cubs address the theme, as does a collaboration by Susan Shie and James Acord who have created a kaleidoscopic hodgepodge of African masks, short hanging bamboo rods, leather pieces with Aztec motifs and much more. Across the top is written in fabric: “We are seeing the healing of the planet before our very eyes.”

Most of the quilts were meticulously hand-sewn, though a time-saving machine was used for some, said Segawa, who has worked mainly with fabric ever since she saw her first quilt exhibit as an art student on a trip from Japan to the East Coast some 25 years ago.

“I can express different textures with fabric, which is something I can’t do with painting,” she said. “Basically, I paint with fabric.”

(Segawa will give a free slide lecture titled “The Quilt as Art Form” on Saturday, March 23, at 1:30 p.m. in the Brea City Council Chambers, on the first level of the Civic and Cultural Center.)

What: “New Wave Quilt Collection.”

When: Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 5 p.m., Thursdays till 8 p.m., through April 12.

Where: The Brea Civic and Cultural Center, One Civic Center Circle, Brea.

Whereabouts: Take the Orange Freeway to Lambert. Go West on Lambert to State College. Go South on State College to Birch, then West on Birch to the Civic and Cultural Center, first level.

Wherewithal: Admission is free.

Where to call: (714) 990-7730.