Mississippi painter and textile artist Coulter Fussell uses humble materials and an improvisational approach to design, stitching and patterns in her modern traditional quilts.
The artist: Fussell was born and raised in Columbus, Ga. Her mother, who taught her to sew, is a master quilter. Her father has been art exhibit curator and consultant.
After graduating in 2000 with a fine arts degree from the University of Mississippi, she started painting but supported herself by working as waitress.
Fussell lives in Water Valley and works as a waitress at the Ajax diner in downtown Oxford, a neighboring town.
The studio: In 2010, Fussell opened Yalo Studio, a painting studio and gallery in Water Valley. Then later, with friends, she opened YaloRun Textiles, an experimental textile workshop and fabric store.
The goods: Unconventional, hand-stitched quilts (typically $2,000 to $8,000) made from repurposed materials with rough edges, plus a mashup of patterns, mixed media pieces and sometimes spray paint.
In her work, Fussell does not follow a predetermined patterns and does not sketch a design before she composes a quilt.
The materials: Clothes and old textiles donated to her or mailed to her from all over the country. In one quilt, she incorporated fabric from a fancy old house robe that came from “The Big House,” the home of an old wealthy Water Valley family.
Influence on her work: Often paintings. One piece, the “Stella” quilt was inspired by Frank Stella’s early “Black Paintings.”
Big breaks: Having her textile work featured in the Run Home Collection of New York-based Thompson Street Studio, an outlet for hand-made textiles. Also her first solo at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art in Charleston in early 2020.
Commissions: Occasionally, Fussell will make a quilt for people whose loved one has passed away. She uses the person’s old clothes to make a “memory quilt” of sorts.
Although death is the reason for the quilt, she loves the work and finds the experience and final product ultimately life-affirming.
Awards: The 2017 Southern Prize finalist. The prize is awarded by South Arts, a non-profit regional arts group based in Atlanta. She also was a 2019 United States Artists Fellow in craft. Chicago-based USA is a national funding organization for the arts.
Where to buy: www.coulterfussell.com
Get social at: coultyalo on instagram
