"Hands at Work," solo exhibition, 2017. Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Los Angeles.
       
     
"Hands at Work," solo exhibition, 2017. Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Los Angeles.
       
     
"Hands at Work," solo exhibition, 2017. Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Los Angeles.
       
     
"Hands at Work Video" and "Hands at Work Film" (both 2017) on view at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in 2021.
       
     
"Hands at Work IV," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, lithography ink, LEDs. 47 x 70 1/2 in.
       
     
"Untitled (Bradford Dyeing Hands at Work)," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, LEDs. 26 1/8 x 26 1/8 x 3 in.
       
     
"Untitled (Arts and Crafts Hands at Work)," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, lithography ink, LEDs. 26 1/2 x 26 3/8 x 3 in.
       
     
"Untitled (Hands at Work Square II)," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, LEDs. 17 3/8 x 17 1/2 x 3 in.
       
     
"Untitled (Hands at Work Square)," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, LEDs. 17 1/8 x 17 3/16 x 3 in.
       
     
"Hands at Work Film," 2016. 16 mm film, polyester thread, lithography ink, LEDs. 50 5/8 inches wide x 74 inches tall x 6 11/16 inches deep. 
       
     
"Hands at Work (for Pat Ferrero)," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, LEDs. 14 7/8 x 14 7/8 x 3 in.
       
     
"Hands at Work (for Pat Ferrero) II," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, LEDs. 14 7/8 x 14 7/8 x 3 in.
       
     
"Hands at Work Crazy Quilt (for Teresa Li)," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, lithography ink, permanent marker, LEDs. 73 x 50 x 6 in.
       
     
"Hands at Work III," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, LEDs. 26 7/8 x 27 x 3 in.
       
     
"Hands at Work Crazy Quilt (for Roderick Kiracofe)," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, LEDs. 27 1/8 x 27 5/8 x 3 in.
       
     
"Hearts and Hands Octagonal Star," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, lithography ink, LEDs. 17 1/8 x 16 7/8 x 3 in.
       
     
"Lowell Offering Log Cabins," 2015. 16mm film, polyester thread, LEDs. 27 3/4 x 27 5/8 x 3 in.
       
     
"Hearts and Hands Octagonal Star," 2015. 16 mm film, polyester thread, permanent marker, lithography ink, LEDs. 25 x 24 3/4 x 3 in.
       
     
"Beginnings and Endings," 2015. 16 mm film, polyester thread, LEDS. 24 5/8 x 24 5/16 x 3 in.
       
     
"Spindle Log Cabin Square," 2014. 16 mm film, polyester thread, LEDs. 15 3/4 x 15 3/4 x 3 1/16 in.
       
     
"Elizabeth Keckley Diamond," 2014. 16 mm film, polyester thread, lithography ink, LEDs. 15 7/8 x 15 13/16 x 3 1/16 in.
       
     
"Garden Square," 2014. 16mm thread, polyester thread, LEDS. 16 3/4 x 16 15/16 x 3 1/16 in.
       
     
"Hearts and Hands, Arts and Crafts Square," 2014. 16 mm film, polyester thread, lithography ink, LEDs. 15 7/8 x 15 5/8 x 3 1/16 in.
       
     
"Hearts and Hands Black Block," 2014. 16 mm film, polyester thread, cotton-covered polyester thread, LEDs. 17 x 16 3/4 x 3 in.
       
     
"Hearts and Hands Log Cabin Squares (for Susan)," 2014. 16 mm film, polyester thread, lithography ink, permanent marker. 26 7/16 x 26 1/4 x 3 in.   
       
     
"Quilts, Dresses, Arts and Crafts (for Rollins)," 2014. 16 mm film, polyester thread, lithography ink, LEDs. 53 x 77 3/16 x 6 1/8 in.
       
     
"Quilts in Women’s Lives IV," 2013. 16mm film, polyester thread, polyamide thread, cotton thread, lithography ink, permanent marker, LEDs. 23 1/4 x 23 1/4 x 3 in.
       
     
"The Enchanted Loom (Part II), 2010. 16mm film, polyamide thread, LEDs. 16 x 16 x 3 in. (each unit)
       
     
"The Enchanted Loom (Part II), 2010. 16mm film, polyamide thread, LEDs. 16 x 16 x 3 in. (each unit)
       
     
"Camouflage," 2012. 16 mm film, polyamide thread, lithography ink, polyester thread, LEDs. 75 3/4 x 52 1/4 x 6 9/16 in.
       
     
"Camouflage" installation view
       
     
"Arts and Crafts," 2012. 16 mm film, polyamide thread. 23 1/2 x 23 in.
       
     
"Arts and Crafts," 2012. (detail)
       
     
"Fibers and Civilization (1959)," 2009. 16 mm film, polyamide thread, 60 1/2 x 43 in.
       
     
"Hula Hoop," 2010. 16 mm film, polyamide thread, LEDs. 34 x 34 in. (detail)
       
     
"Watch & See," solo exhibition, 2009. Gustavsbergs Konsthall, Sweden.
       
     
"What is a Dress?" 2009. 16 mm film, polyamide thread, cotton thread. 72 x 48 in.
       
     
"What is a Dress?" 2009. (detail)
       
     
"Hands at Work," solo exhibition, 2017. Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Los Angeles.
       
     
"Hands at Work," solo exhibition, 2017. Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Los Angeles.

From 2009-2018 I worked from a collection of 16 mm films that were de-accessioned from the Fashion Institute of Technology and given to me by the Archivist of Anthology Film Archives. These short textile documentaries, dated between 1950 and 1980, explored textiles as art, craft, industry, fashion, military camouflage, political expression, and scientific metaphor. Not only had the movies’ subject matter - mostly that of women creating textiles - been deemed unworthy of archiving, but some of the film had faded or discolored, adding an additional layer of valuelessness.

I’ve always thought of movie film as a kind of textile. Because it takes 24 frames of still images to equal one second of motion, film contains sequential images that resemble patterned fabric. When I received these de-accessioned films, I immediately thought of "string quilts," made by sewing together long, thin fabric scraps left over from other projects. In an act meant to recast the undervalued histories of women’s handcraft work and celebrate the film medium, I made my first 16mm film quilt by cutting and sewing lengths of film together into a string quilt formation.

As I continued to work with the footage, I would cut and sew it into configurations based on popular American quilt motifs. I would carefully dismantle the narratives of the historical films, and re-interpret them. Sometimes I chose a scene, a subject, or a narrative style from a documentary to critique; other times, to honor. Occasionally I added in my own personal film footage, shot new film footage to insert into the quilts, printed over film with lithography ink, drew on the film, or scratched out certain scenes. In each piece, I intermingled footage to create a dialogue between the images inside the frames and the overall quilt patterns. I drew inspiration from quilt pattern books and museum quilt collections. I found, re-used, and honored patterns that have given shape to feminist narratives. I thought of my sewing as a three-dimensional form of cinematic editing, and a reconfiguring of the notion of "filmic suture" (the use of editing to draw audiences into a story).

From a distance, the back-lit and illuminated film quilts resemble stained glass. Up close, viewers discover narratives from the photographic stills they see on a material that is usually projected and not examined within tactile proximity. The works are displayed within LED light boxes, or occasionally, on windows.

By linking the crafts of quilt-making and film editing, this body of work calls attention to neglected material histories of cinema. In 1895, the Lumiere brothers adapted sewing machine mechanisms to advance film sprocket holes in their camera/projector called a Cinematograph, which they used to create the first motion picture. In the early days of Hollywood, women were employed as film editors because of their sewing experience. The thread I used to sew together pieces of film is a material bond that re-connects these handcraft histories to cinema. Made by my own hands on a Bernina sewing machine, my film quilts recuperate sewing’s essential role in cinema, while expanding material possibilities for quilt-making.

In the era of streaming video, with film on the brink of obsolescence, I drew from the craft of quilting salvaged remnants to create a feminist future for film. In this work, film becomes a textile; a quilt composed of photographic material embedded with history.

This body of work has been exhibited within the context of film, photography and media; textiles, quilts and handcraft; and feminist art.

Select exhibitions include:

“Power of Making,” Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2011 (catalog)

“alt_quilts: Sabrina Gschwandtner, Luke Haynes, Stephen Sollins,” American Folk Art Museum, New York, 2013 (brochure)

“Purple States,” Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY, 2014

“The Enchanted Loom (Part II),” (solo), RISD Museum, 2014 - ongoing

“Film Quilts,” (solo), Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 2015

“Luminous Flux 2.0: new + historic works from the digital art frontier,” Thoma Foundation Art House, Santa Fe, NM, 2015 (brochure)

“Connections: Contemporary Craft From the Permanent Collection,” Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC, 2016 (catalog)

“Life After Media,” Orange Door Chicago, Thoma Collection, Chicago, IL, 2016

“Year of the Woman,” Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC, 2016

“Storyline: the Contemporary Quilt,” Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, TX, 2017

“Light & Matter: The Photographic Object,” Michener Art Museum, PA, 2017 (catalog)

“Hands at Work” (solo), Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 2017

“Digital Artifacts,” Thoma Foundation Art House, Santa Fe, NM, 2018

“Punctures: Textiles in Digital and Material Time,” Squeaky Wheel, Buffalo, NY, 2020

“Radical Tradition: American Quilts and Social Change,” Toledo Museum of Art, 2020 (catalog)

“Crafting America,” Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, 2021 (catalog)

“Fabric of A Nation: American Quilt Stories,” Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2021

“The Sum of the Parts,” Craft Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA, 2022

“Women's Work,” Lyndhurst, Tarrytown, NY, 2022

“Social Fabric: Textiles and Contemporary Issues,” Newport Museum of Art, RI, 2022

“Implicit Explicit,” Hauser & Wirth, Los Angeles, CA, 2024

Photo: Joshua White

"Hands at Work," solo exhibition, 2017. Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Los Angeles.
       
     
"Hands at Work," solo exhibition, 2017. Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Los Angeles.
"Hands at Work," solo exhibition, 2017. Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Los Angeles.
       
     
"Hands at Work," solo exhibition, 2017. Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Los Angeles.
"Hands at Work Video" and "Hands at Work Film" (both 2017) on view at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in 2021.
       
     
"Hands at Work Video" and "Hands at Work Film" (both 2017) on view at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in 2021.

Photo: Roderick Kiracofe

"Hands at Work IV," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, lithography ink, LEDs. 47 x 70 1/2 in.
       
     
"Hands at Work IV," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, lithography ink, LEDs. 47 x 70 1/2 in.
"Untitled (Bradford Dyeing Hands at Work)," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, LEDs. 26 1/8 x 26 1/8 x 3 in.
       
     
"Untitled (Bradford Dyeing Hands at Work)," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, LEDs. 26 1/8 x 26 1/8 x 3 in.
"Untitled (Arts and Crafts Hands at Work)," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, lithography ink, LEDs. 26 1/2 x 26 3/8 x 3 in.
       
     
"Untitled (Arts and Crafts Hands at Work)," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, lithography ink, LEDs. 26 1/2 x 26 3/8 x 3 in.
"Untitled (Hands at Work Square II)," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, LEDs. 17 3/8 x 17 1/2 x 3 in.
       
     
"Untitled (Hands at Work Square II)," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, LEDs. 17 3/8 x 17 1/2 x 3 in.
"Untitled (Hands at Work Square)," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, LEDs. 17 1/8 x 17 3/16 x 3 in.
       
     
"Untitled (Hands at Work Square)," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, LEDs. 17 1/8 x 17 3/16 x 3 in.
"Hands at Work Film," 2016. 16 mm film, polyester thread, lithography ink, LEDs. 50 5/8 inches wide x 74 inches tall x 6 11/16 inches deep. 
       
     
"Hands at Work Film," 2016. 16 mm film, polyester thread, lithography ink, LEDs. 50 5/8 inches wide x 74 inches tall x 6 11/16 inches deep. 

Collection Los Angeles County Museum of Art, gift of the 2020 Decorative Arts and Design Acquisitions Committee (DA²) in memory of Peter Loughrey.

Photo: Joshua White

"Hands at Work (for Pat Ferrero)," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, LEDs. 14 7/8 x 14 7/8 x 3 in.
       
     
"Hands at Work (for Pat Ferrero)," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, LEDs. 14 7/8 x 14 7/8 x 3 in.
"Hands at Work (for Pat Ferrero) II," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, LEDs. 14 7/8 x 14 7/8 x 3 in.
       
     
"Hands at Work (for Pat Ferrero) II," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, LEDs. 14 7/8 x 14 7/8 x 3 in.
"Hands at Work Crazy Quilt (for Teresa Li)," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, lithography ink, permanent marker, LEDs. 73 x 50 x 6 in.
       
     
"Hands at Work Crazy Quilt (for Teresa Li)," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, lithography ink, permanent marker, LEDs. 73 x 50 x 6 in.
"Hands at Work III," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, LEDs. 26 7/8 x 27 x 3 in.
       
     
"Hands at Work III," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, LEDs. 26 7/8 x 27 x 3 in.
"Hands at Work Crazy Quilt (for Roderick Kiracofe)," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, LEDs. 27 1/8 x 27 5/8 x 3 in.
       
     
"Hands at Work Crazy Quilt (for Roderick Kiracofe)," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, LEDs. 27 1/8 x 27 5/8 x 3 in.
"Hearts and Hands Octagonal Star," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, lithography ink, LEDs. 17 1/8 x 16 7/8 x 3 in.
       
     
"Hearts and Hands Octagonal Star," 2017. 16 mm film, polyester thread, lithography ink, LEDs. 17 1/8 x 16 7/8 x 3 in.
"Lowell Offering Log Cabins," 2015. 16mm film, polyester thread, LEDs. 27 3/4 x 27 5/8 x 3 in.
       
     
"Lowell Offering Log Cabins," 2015. 16mm film, polyester thread, LEDs. 27 3/4 x 27 5/8 x 3 in.
"Hearts and Hands Octagonal Star," 2015. 16 mm film, polyester thread, permanent marker, lithography ink, LEDs. 25 x 24 3/4 x 3 in.
       
     
"Hearts and Hands Octagonal Star," 2015. 16 mm film, polyester thread, permanent marker, lithography ink, LEDs. 25 x 24 3/4 x 3 in.
"Beginnings and Endings," 2015. 16 mm film, polyester thread, LEDS. 24 5/8 x 24 5/16 x 3 in.
       
     
"Beginnings and Endings," 2015. 16 mm film, polyester thread, LEDS. 24 5/8 x 24 5/16 x 3 in.
"Spindle Log Cabin Square," 2014. 16 mm film, polyester thread, LEDs. 15 3/4 x 15 3/4 x 3 1/16 in.
       
     
"Spindle Log Cabin Square," 2014. 16 mm film, polyester thread, LEDs. 15 3/4 x 15 3/4 x 3 1/16 in.
"Elizabeth Keckley Diamond," 2014. 16 mm film, polyester thread, lithography ink, LEDs. 15 7/8 x 15 13/16 x 3 1/16 in.
       
     
"Elizabeth Keckley Diamond," 2014. 16 mm film, polyester thread, lithography ink, LEDs. 15 7/8 x 15 13/16 x 3 1/16 in.
"Garden Square," 2014. 16mm thread, polyester thread, LEDS. 16 3/4 x 16 15/16 x 3 1/16 in.
       
     
"Garden Square," 2014. 16mm thread, polyester thread, LEDS. 16 3/4 x 16 15/16 x 3 1/16 in.
"Hearts and Hands, Arts and Crafts Square," 2014. 16 mm film, polyester thread, lithography ink, LEDs. 15 7/8 x 15 5/8 x 3 1/16 in.
       
     
"Hearts and Hands, Arts and Crafts Square," 2014. 16 mm film, polyester thread, lithography ink, LEDs. 15 7/8 x 15 5/8 x 3 1/16 in.
"Hearts and Hands Black Block," 2014. 16 mm film, polyester thread, cotton-covered polyester thread, LEDs. 17 x 16 3/4 x 3 in.
       
     
"Hearts and Hands Black Block," 2014. 16 mm film, polyester thread, cotton-covered polyester thread, LEDs. 17 x 16 3/4 x 3 in.
"Hearts and Hands Log Cabin Squares (for Susan)," 2014. 16 mm film, polyester thread, lithography ink, permanent marker. 26 7/16 x 26 1/4 x 3 in.   
       
     
"Hearts and Hands Log Cabin Squares (for Susan)," 2014. 16 mm film, polyester thread, lithography ink, permanent marker. 26 7/16 x 26 1/4 x 3 in.  
"Quilts, Dresses, Arts and Crafts (for Rollins)," 2014. 16 mm film, polyester thread, lithography ink, LEDs. 53 x 77 3/16 x 6 1/8 in.
       
     
"Quilts, Dresses, Arts and Crafts (for Rollins)," 2014. 16 mm film, polyester thread, lithography ink, LEDs. 53 x 77 3/16 x 6 1/8 in.
"Quilts in Women’s Lives IV," 2013. 16mm film, polyester thread, polyamide thread, cotton thread, lithography ink, permanent marker, LEDs. 23 1/4 x 23 1/4 x 3 in.
       
     
"Quilts in Women’s Lives IV," 2013. 16mm film, polyester thread, polyamide thread, cotton thread, lithography ink, permanent marker, LEDs. 23 1/4 x 23 1/4 x 3 in.
"The Enchanted Loom (Part II), 2010. 16mm film, polyamide thread, LEDs. 16 x 16 x 3 in. (each unit)
       
     
"The Enchanted Loom (Part II), 2010. 16mm film, polyamide thread, LEDs. 16 x 16 x 3 in. (each unit)

Collection RISD Museum. Helen M. Danforth Acquisition Fund 2013.32

Photo: Andy Romer

"The Enchanted Loom (Part II), 2010. 16mm film, polyamide thread, LEDs. 16 x 16 x 3 in. (each unit)
       
     
"The Enchanted Loom (Part II), 2010. 16mm film, polyamide thread, LEDs. 16 x 16 x 3 in. (each unit)

Collection RISD Museum. Helen M. Danforth Acquisition Fund 2013.32

Photo: Andy Romer

"Camouflage," 2012. 16 mm film, polyamide thread, lithography ink, polyester thread, LEDs. 75 3/4 x 52 1/4 x 6 9/16 in.
       
     
"Camouflage," 2012. 16 mm film, polyamide thread, lithography ink, polyester thread, LEDs. 75 3/4 x 52 1/4 x 6 9/16 in.

Collection MFA Boston

Photo: Tom Powel Imaging

Camouflage is constructed from two 16mm films, one de-accessioned from the Fashion Institute of Technology and the other purchased on eBay. I dismantled the narratives of the two historical films and re-interpreted their thematic concerns by sewing them into the traditional “sunshine and shadow” American quilt motif. The work contrasts dark footage from an industrial textile manufacturing film that shows how fabric was made at the Bradford Dyeing Association in Rhode Island with lighter footage from an instructional children’s film about shadows. Bradford Dyeing, which provided camouflage to the United States military, opened before the Civil War but closed in 2011 after years of labor rights abuses and environmental pollution. The film falsely paints a picture of happy workers. Shadows, Shadows Everywhere (1972) shows two children making shadow puppets in front of a piece of cloth and looking at shadows created by the sun. In combining the two films, I wanted to represent the idea of camouflage in multiple ways, and acknowledge that whenever you shed light on something, you also make a shadow. 

"Camouflage" installation view
       
     
"Camouflage" installation view

Installation view of "Camouflage" and two smaller film quilts on display alongside a quilt from the American Folk Art Museum's permanent collection in "alt_quilts: Sabrina Gschwandtner, Luke Haynes, Stephen Sollins," American Folk Art Museum, New York City, October 1, 2013–January 4, 2014.

"Arts and Crafts," 2012. 16 mm film, polyamide thread. 23 1/2 x 23 in.
       
     
"Arts and Crafts," 2012. 16 mm film, polyamide thread. 23 1/2 x 23 in.
"Arts and Crafts," 2012. (detail)
       
     
"Arts and Crafts," 2012. (detail)
"Fibers and Civilization (1959)," 2009. 16 mm film, polyamide thread, 60 1/2 x 43 in.
       
     
"Fibers and Civilization (1959)," 2009. 16 mm film, polyamide thread, 60 1/2 x 43 in.

Collection Smithsonian American Art Museum

Smithsonian American Art Museum purchase through the Barbara Coffey Quilt Endowment © 2009, Sabrina Gschwandtner 2013.1

"Hula Hoop," 2010. 16 mm film, polyamide thread, LEDs. 34 x 34 in. (detail)
       
     
"Hula Hoop," 2010. 16 mm film, polyamide thread, LEDs. 34 x 34 in. (detail)

Collection Smithsonian American Art Museum

Gift of Chris Rifkin in honor of the fortieth anniversary of the Renwick Gallery © 2010, Sabrina Gschwandtner 2013.2

"Watch & See," solo exhibition, 2009. Gustavsbergs Konsthall, Sweden.
       
     
"Watch & See," solo exhibition, 2009. Gustavsbergs Konsthall, Sweden.
"What is a Dress?" 2009. 16 mm film, polyamide thread, cotton thread. 72 x 48 in.
       
     
"What is a Dress?" 2009. 16 mm film, polyamide thread, cotton thread. 72 x 48 in.
"What is a Dress?" 2009. (detail)
       
     
"What is a Dress?" 2009. (detail)

Photo: Jason Spingarn-Koff