Agusta began making quilts as a painting major at Massachusetts College of Art. Concurrently she created silkscreened posters which received local, national and international recognition at the Graphic Workshop. Many of her pastel landscapes are in numerous corporate collections. She also worked as an art teacher for 22 years. In 2017, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston acquired one of her quilts.
The artist’s personal website is Instagram.com/augustaagustsson
Artist Statement:
My fiber work is influenced by my work as a landscape artist. Almost every day when I take the time to look there is something poignantly beautiful to see. It might be the sun striking a cloud formation or the texture of leafless trees climbing a mountain. I don’t want to express a vista in my work, but rather those clear, almost painful moments of sight. I want to evoke the natural world, not render it.
In the summer of 2017, I reached a turning point in my textile work. For a number of years, I played with the nine-patch block, exploring the poetry of the square. For a while it was enough to evoke sensations through the interplay of color, value and pattern. But, most of the creativity took place in the initial design stage. I wanted a way to use textiles more spontaneously, to experience surprise and wonder throughout a project.
I experimented with ways to make the end result less predictable. Concurrently, I was creating collages. I decided I needed to treat my textiles the same way I made my collages. It was time to take the risk of making an ugly work.
Working in a more spontaneous manner also allowed me to respond to an event such as the eclipse or the impressions left by a walk in the woods. Sometimes I work just by putting pieces together, cutting and rearranging them. Other times I use a sketch or photograph as inspiration. With my new manner of working there are always surprises as the quilt top comes together.