Hindu Kolam Quilts on Display at Maryland's Tai Sophia Institute

BALTIMORE SUN
By Mike Giuliano

The quilt "Sovereign Service" by Lauren Kingsland

MARYLAND - American quilts have been spiced with Indian influences in the exhibit Pieces as Prayers: Kolam and Kaleidoscope Quilts at the Tai Sophia Institute's Himmelfarb Gallery. Gaithersburg artist Lauren Kingsland's quilts reflect Hindu religious practices she saw during a trip to India. The daily religious ritual that impressed her involved Indian women making designs with rice flour on the ground. This ritual is a manifestation of a belief known as Kolam, which states that making the design is itself a form of prayer. The exhibit Pieces as Prayers: Kolam and Kaleidoscope Quilts continues at the Tai Sophia Institute in Laurel through Aug. 27. [link]