Janno McLaughlin is a regional artist based in Scone who has set herself the task of sewing/assembling a quilt as big as a house to deliver to the Ukrainian embassy in London then on to Ukraine to be wrapped Christo-like around significant landmarks.
With hand-stitched squares rolling in from Australia, Africa, New York, NZ and the UK, Janno is aiming for over 9,000 pieces of 30×30 sunflower inspired fabric that she, alongside an army of local CWA women will sew together.
Who
Formerly an artist-in-residence in Argentina (2006-2013), Janno’s previous efforts included a six-year environmental art project in one of the worst polluted drug-riddled slums in Buenos Aires.
Janno has previously worked with the Ukrainian student arts community. When war broke, she reached out to her students to see if they were a) alive and b) how she could possibly offer some/any sort of support.
What
An enormous art project to show the people of Ukraine that people from all walks of life stand with them, from all over the world.
Janno declares, “My sunflower quilt is intended as a metaphoric hug for Ukraine and its children. A symbol of love and support that can wrap them or be touched and held, hung over a chosen building, bombsite, or train station. Potentially to be laid in a field (or heaven forbid, and too awful to put down in stark words ….in healing… to lay over sites of mass atrocities).”
Call to action
For people all over Australia (and the world) to get crafting and send in a 30 x 30 cm patch, based on the themes of sunflowers, hope, optimism, and peace.
PLEASE SEND FINISHED PATCHES TO JANNO BY JUNE 30, TO PO BOX 746, SCONE, NSW, 2337, UPDATES ON @jannoart
Photo caption: Millie and Bridget from the ABC ( MAY 22) in Janno’s studio compiling sunflower quilt interview.