Molly Upton

Martha Neill Upton (September 30, 1953, Pittsfield, Massachusetts – March 30, 1977, San Francisco, California) was a watercolorist, sculptor and studio quilt artist.

Her father was a graduate of the Princeton University in the Class of 1944 and a veteran of the United States Army Air Force as a C-47 pilot.

Upton and Hoffman became roommates in an apartment there and pursued quiltmaking with the intent of securing a metropolitan art gallery showing.

"[12] Her unorthodox methods of working included using the floor surface as her design wall to compose her tapestries and binoculars held the reverse way to simulate a long view.

[13] In one of the few recorded statements from this young artist, Upton said she drew inspiration in part from "wandering through ruins, active streets and deserts; from past civilizations, and (from piano) keyboards.

[14] In 1975, the landmark "Quilts by Radka Donnell, Susan Hoffman, and Molly Upton" exhibit opened at the Carpenter Center for Visual Arts at Harvard University.

[15] In December 1975, Arts Magazine published a full page announcement for the "Quilted Tapestries of Susan Hoffman and Molly Upton" exhibit opening at the Kornblee Gallery in New York City, November 25 – December 13, 1975 and included photographs of Upton's black and white Pine Winter and Hoffman's black and white Hourglass Infinity.

In three separate pieces, Watchtower, Note Motion and Construction, black and white or equivalent high-contrasting hues are used to specify the overall 'drawing'.

In Construction, an overlapping cross-hatch plaid presents alternately advancing and receding spaces, akin to Vasarely optical play.

Note Motion contains many forms that approximate musical notation and the Cubistic composition seems a reminder of Picasso's Three Musicians.

Her work resembles one of the seldom mentioned but significant antecedents of this type of geometric abstraction – the "art" weavings and rugs produced by Anni Albers and others at the Bauhaus.

In that same year, Upton's Greek and Torrid Dwelling pieces were included in the juried exhibit Bed and Board – Contemporary Quilts & Woodwork at the DeCordova Museum (June 21 – September 28, 1975).

Later, midway through construction, she "included a couple of men and a chicken, as a conscious but hidden clue that the landscape could still support man.

But the irregular and often illogical juxtaposition of the stones make it active and puts it in motion, suggesting an impending change-even ruin.