Anna Von
Mertens

Anna Von Mertens creates “conceptual quilts,” hand-stitching empirical data onto hand-dyed fabric. She attended Brown University and California College of Arts and crafts (MFA, 2000). In her works, Von Mertens has traced the migration routes of birds and people, astronomical events during historical moments, the energy dispersion pattern of a nuclear explosion, and the placement of the stars during the exact moment of important violent events in American history (such as 9/11). She places her quilts on platforms on the floor to mimic beds and minimalist sculptures and, more recently, on the walls like paintings.

Photo credit Francie Von Mertens.