Click above to play this Gilgamesh quilt video.

Where did this fantastic work of art come from?

Writes Rachel Cohen:

This project really began 25 years ago, when my husband, Joshua Cohen, first shared the story of Gilgamesh with me, as something he thought I might love too.  There was something about the story even then that drew me to explore its meaning through art.  I did a small relief in clay of the wrestling scene as a birthday present for Josh.  When a dear friend suggested I try creating a story in appliqué, there was no question as to “which story.”

I quite clearly remember the first pencil diagram/sketch created in January 2013.  The two end panels were to represent the two stone tablets wherein Gilgamesh “wrote the story” on his return.  I very much wanted the ideas of “journey,” “possibility,” and “change” to be represented which led to the diagonal panel in the center.  Even the idea for the border was there at the beginning — wanting it to be the edge of the lapis lazuli stone of the tablets. The other element that was present from the beginning was the idea of a circular story.  The actual text begins with a description of the final panel, which is repeated and elaborated on at the end — but is it really circular?  Is the place reached at the end, while called the same, still the same “Uruk,” still the same “Gilgamesh?” My interpretation is in the quilt.

As with any project of such length and size, there are so many people to thank for their contributions.  My husband lent his creative imagination to design of many of the fantastic elements (the meteor, the scorpion beings, and all the characters, to name a few).  My daughter, Leah, became my steadfast and honest critic and support.  Her eye for color and detail grew and developed along with the quilt.  Her unending positive and loving support was everything.  My son, Avi, reluctantly served as model for some of the characters (thank you!), and added some significant suggestions that really completed the final panel.  Other inspiration came from a Hubble telescope photograph of the double galaxy, M.C. Escher’s early work with perspective and point-of-view, and all the unnamed and unknown sources of the hundreds of fabric designs, and other materials. And, of course, to David Ferry for his wonderful verse rendering of such a powerful story. My thanks and gratitude to all.