Andrew Haener’s largest animated digital quilt depicts two brothers sitting in plastic lawn chairs in front of a doublewide trailer, facing away from each other, surrounded by trash and mess. Around the scene is a moving border of celestial phenomena, mon + Enlarge
Beau & Caleb 2023 Digital Animation (still) 28x48"
Andrew Haener’s third digital quilt depicting a single mother alone in her messy apartment, hunched over an ironing board. She is transfixed by a swirling shape in front of her on top of her ironing board. She is surrounded by an animated frame of monster + Enlarge
Rebecca Anne 2023 Digital Animation (still)
Andrew Haener’s firsts digital quilt depicts an elderly woman sitting alone, hunched over in a chair in her messy kitchen. She is transfixed by a swirling shape in front of her on the table top. She is surrounded by a frame of moving monsters, celestial p + Enlarge
Virginia 2023 Digital Animation (still) 15x25"
Andrew Haener’s Fear Quilt is a handmade pictorial child’s quilt featuring scary iconographic imagery. The design is laid out in log cabin style and features a small house with a crying eye at the center. It is surrounded by flames, a pattern of bullets, + Enlarge
Fear Quilt (1) 2023 various fabrics, felt, yarn 30x40"
Andrew Haener’s Fear Quilt is a handmade pictorial child’s quilt featuring scary iconographic imagery. The design is laid out in log cabin style and features a small house with a crying eye at the center. It is surrounded by flames, a pattern of bullets, + Enlarge
Fear Quilt (2) 2923 Various fabrics, felt, yarn 30x40"
Various felted and hand-sewn sculptures of monsters: a weird doomsday clock with a black raindrop for the clock hand, a sculpture of a small felted devil-looking monster, a sculpture of a tin can with scary eyes peering out from inside, oozing black goo o + Enlarge
Fears (1) 2023 Various fabrics, felt, yarn, gouache, cardstock 5-10"
Various felted and hand-sewn sculptures of monsters: a weird doomsday clock with a black raindrop for the clock hand, a sculpture of a small felted devil-looking monster, a sculpture of a tin can with scary eyes peering out from inside, oozing black goo o + Enlarge
Fears (2) 2023 Various fabrics, felt, yarn, gouache, cardstock 5-10"
Various felted and hand-sewn sculptures of monsters: a weird doomsday clock with a black raindrop for the clock hand, a sculpture of a small felted devil-looking monster, a sculpture of a tin can with scary eyes peering out from inside, oozing black goo o + Enlarge
Fears (3) 2023 Various fabrics, felt, yarn, gouache, cardstock 5-10"
Wide photos of Andrew Haener’s FRAID: A Quilt Show installation. On the right side of an enclosed gallery space are three large televisions mounted to a wall playing looping animations. Behind them is a seemingly classic floral wallpaper. A Quilt is mount + Enlarge
FRAID: A Quilt Show Installation (1) 2023 Various media
Wide photos of Andrew Haener’s FRAID: A Quilt Show installation. On the right side of an enclosed gallery space are three large televisions mounted to a wall playing looping animations. Behind them is a seemingly classic floral wallpaper. A Quilt is mount + Enlarge
FRAID: A Quilt Show Installation (2) 2023 Various media
handmade red ashtray on top of small table with black cloth. three small crushed cigarettes made of paper and cotton are placed inside and around. + Enlarge
Ashtray with Cigarettes (1) 2023 Polymer clay, acrylic, polyester, paper, fabric, wood 5"
handmade red ashtray on top of small table with black cloth. three small crushed cigarettes made of paper and cotton are placed inside and around. + Enlarge
Ashtray with Cigarettes (2) 2023 Polymer clay, acrylic, polyester, paper, fabric, wood 5"
Statement

The objects in this installation are soft, unlike the hyper-aggressive, fanatically religious upbringing which inspired their creation. Drawing from a number of regional Southern traditions such as appliqué quilting and doomsday preparation, these tactile and digital textiles appropriate and repurpose common Middle American imagery in order to defang the causes of its anxieties. The characters are vulnerable, human, and all intoxicated by an intangible fear rooted in the all-consuming worries of their day-to-day lives. Through an empathetic lens they are seen and reimagined as something compassionate and wholly capable of overcoming their despair. Here, in this intimately idealistic portrayal, viewers can connect with a culture that is often barbed and closed off so that they may build a foundation for understanding.

Illustration Practice (MFA) Students