One Quilt. Three Years. Five Mediums.

When artist Erin Tyler received a wedding gift from a ninety-year-old great aunt whom she barely knew, she never dreamed it would define her art practice for three years and earn her a solo show in Tulsa. “Quilt Studies” features small abstract acrylic paintings, mostly in shades of red, white, and blue. 

Tyler’s great Aunt Goldia (pronounced Goldie) was on the maternal side of Tyler’s family which she knew little about, so Tyler was surprised when she opened her gift of a handmade king-sized quilt. “I was taken aback. I have not been gifted with many handmade things made specifically for me. I became infatuated with the quilt, and it spawned three years of artistic focus for me,” Tyler said. Although her formal training is in painting, Tyler said she didn’t find her voice until she started the quilt series.

The quilt, which will be displayed at the opening, uses a schoolhouse pattern on the front, but that’s not what interested Tyler. The quilt back was created with large randomly placed blocks of red fabric on a white background, likely made with fabrics that Aunt Goldia had left over from other projects. The abstract pattern reminded Tyler of an art period she loved but had never attempted to paint: Modernism’s geometric abstracts, exemplified in the paintings of Ellsworth Kelly. 

“Typically, that era of painting was championed by male artists, so I loved the idea that this soft pliable object, which was precious but made to be used and accumulate wear, had the same impact on me as hard-edged geometric images,” Tyler said. 

Tyler said creating the quilt series made her think about changing gender roles within her family. She admires women who are proficient in the domestic arts, such as sewing clothes for their families, but is grateful that she could choose how she expressed her creativity. Tyler, who is 31, calls herself a digital native because she grew up with a screen in front of her, first video games, then a cell phone. 

“It’s interesting that the first thing I wanted to do with the quilt was hang it up and photograph it,” she said. She included digital images on some of the paintings in the show. One painting has the iPhone’s close-up box painted on it and another painting in the show features the number 29, indicating the number of days left before the image on her iPhone is automatically deleted. 

Tyler estimated that she’s completed 50 art works inspired by the quilt. She’s used mediums of photography, painting, collage, digital tools, and printmaking to create the works, all based on the quilt. Those three years coincided with Tyler earning a Masters of Fine Arts at Missouri State University in Springfield. She has exhibited her works in group shows before, but “Quilt Studies” at TAC is her first solo show and the first time she’s exhibited in Tulsa.

And what did Aunt Goldia think of Tyler’s obsession with the quilt?

“She was confused, but honored,” Tyler said. She was able to have several short phone calls with her Aunt Goldia before she died in 2025 at the age of 94. 

Follow Erin Tyler:

Website: erinptyler.com/Home

Instagram: @erintylerstudio