Linaceae #33

As much a quilt as a painting, this work, like so many other fabric-based works in the city collection, pushes the boundaries of what is art and what is craft. The traditional definition says that if it has a use or serves some basic human need, then it is craft. If it is an object meant for contemplation only, then it is art. But what does one make of an object like this, which is hung for contemplation, but is capable of keeping one warm if it were taken off its stretcher bars and wrapped around the shoulders?