2012
Cotton, Cotton-polyster blends; fused and machine quilted
52.5" x 88"
IQM, Gift of the Robert and Ardis James Foundation, 2021.052.0002

Ai Kijima is a Brooklyn, New York-based artist who is best known for her “Pop” series – quilts that combine profuse pop culture visual references from both the U.S. and Japan. Over the years, Kijima has accumulated a prodigious stash of recycled domestic textiles, primarily children’s bedroom sets. She cuts apart bedsheets, pillow cases, and curtains emblazoned with cartoon, movie, and television characters and reassembles them using fusible interfacing and intensive machine quilting. In “Sun-Kissed Summer,” nostalgia and consumer culture come together in sometimes amusing, sometimes bizarre ways, with a Power Ranger leaping from a Teletubby’s shoulder and U.S. President Barack Obama in a face-to-face portrait with Oliver Hardy. The abundant imagery coalesces into an almost overwhelming but also rich and visually balanced composition.