Wini McQueen is a multi-media artist living in Macon, Georgia who paints, dyes, and prints fabrics. Those fabrics are then shaped and finished as clothing and accessories, photo fabric type story quilts, and painted canvases to be used as wall art. Her inspiration evolves from her interest in stories of the Black Diaspora - stories of literacy, of poverty and of social issues.
In August of 2020, Macon's Museum of Arts and Sciences honored Wini by sponsoring "The Covering,” a 50-year retrospection of her work. The collection included artists books, garments, and textile sculptures, each piece unique and captivating. Also on exhibit was work completed in collaboration with local artists Dorothy O. Brown (fabric covered artists books) and Marvin Holloway (sculpted flower assemblage). Craig Coleman and Darlene Murphy assisted in the creation of “Journey through Paradise,” a short video about her search for contemporary textile culture in West Africa between 1994 and 2012. Please watch Tabitha Walker’s film, “The Covering,” which celebrates this rich history, and allows us to hear Wini’s story in her own words. https://vimeo.com/472292599?embedded=true&source=video_title&owner=123677190
Wini continues her creative journey with the monumental “Canopy,” which she hopes we will visit, and rejoice and remember how we “got over” (i.e., survived). You'll find pictures below showing the original piece, but Wini promises that the newer version will be about fifteen times the size of the original. I can't wait to see it! In the meantime, you can enjoy the brilliant images below of her work and her travels. Her hand dyed clothing and accessories can be seen at https://www.etsy.com/shop/WiniwRaps?ref=search_shop_redirect
Hand-dyed garment from "The Covering"
Museum of Arts & Sciences, Macon, GA
“Ode to Edmond” is a quilted work that explores and documents the ways in which Africans brought to America were denied literacy. This work is in the Permanent Collection High Museum of Art (https://high.org/collections/ode-to-edmund-quilt/).
New Obama Souvenir
Womens Work
Wash Day
Ajamemarta
Dyeing
Wini McQueen, Featured Artist. Bouake, Côte d'Ivoire
"Canopy" (The original)