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Anne-Marie Tye
Heroes and Victims
All photos © Drunell Levinson. All rights reserved.
I chose the title of my quilt because so many of the victims and rescuers were heroes. The quilt consists of 5 pained images selected to show the devastation as well as the courage, determination and great spirit of the American people in the face of this tragedy.
The central blurred image of the person plummeting from the WTC personifies much of that courage. This person (I'm not 100% sure if it is male or female) has clearly decided to commit suicide rather than burn. There is no ambiguity in their action: the head first position shows great determination and the arms pinioned to the sides an acceptance and total lack of panic.
The other images show the devastation as well as the recovery that is taking place. Across the river from the smoke and strife of Manhattan the Statue of Liberty stands indomitable. Firemen raise Old Glory at Ground Zero. Two beams of light illuminate the sky in place of the Trade Towers in a symbol of hope. An evil fool thought that he could crush the spirit of the American people. Instead they triumphed by their courage and generosity of spirit.
The panels are painted (my firse use of fabric paints) on cotton. As a reitred police officer, I had kept some worn-out uniform shirts to use as paint rags. I cut the backs from these and painted on them to honour the members of the emergency services who worked at the scene. The night scene is painted on silk. The background quilting consists of as many of the victims' names as I could fit on. I tried to make sure that all elements were represented. The backing is American patriotic fabric that I bought in 2000 at the AQS show in Nashville.
Anne-Marie Tye
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