MFA Fibers and Material Studies, Room 250G

@mokomoko.etc

Untilted, 70” x 70,” Cotton Fabric, thread

Eliot Anderberg’s work follows in the footsteps of four of their great-great grandmothers who gathered frequently with their communities to make quilts. Like them, Anderberg is most interested in quiltmaking as an art form that connects us, both in the present and across space and time.  

While their work is influenced by tradition, it is also contemporary. In lieu of traditional quilt patterns in their work, Anderberg prefers to work improvisationally, not knowing what the result will look like when they start. While they also challenge themselves to master the precision required to follow designs, they are most drawn to a process of playing with color and pattern as they go, without a predetermined plan. They engage abstraction in their work and are invested in the idea that abstraction is inherently queer. This sense of play and abstraction are cornerstones of the queer aesthetic they try to cultivate. 

 As a transgender person, Anderberg finds it difficult to ignore how much of their community is plagued by violence. Though they ultimately view being transgender as a gift, on a personal level, they are exhausted by the dysphoria and mistreatment that comes along with it. Anderberg’s identity as an artist was formed in their efforts square this reality with the exuberance they also find inherent to queer and trans identity. It may seem counterintuitive, but it is due to the terrors of life that their practice orients toward joy, both as a guide and a goal. In their use of color, shape, and pattern, they explore joy as an aesthetic, and more specifically, as a trans and queer aesthetic. In their work, they aim for joy to become not just a feeling but a language, a queer expression that can help us better understand each other, ourselves, and find community. 

Craft is also an important part of Anderberg’s practice. The handwork required in quilting is their favorite part of the making process, and the slow and meditative process of hand quilting plays a critical role in their work. Through craft, they connect deeply to the history of quiltmaking while grounding their practice in care and intention. This allows them to transform slow, deliberate labor into a meditative and expressive act. 

 Through this practice, Anderberg situates themselves within a long continuum of makers who have used cloth and thread to tell stories, build connections, and imagine new worlds. Quiltmaking allows them to bring the past into dialogue with the present, transforming inherited traditions into living expressions of identity and care. By combining improvisation, color, and the slow rhythm of handwork, they seek to create spaces of joy and belonging—works that invite others to feel held, seen, and connected through the shared language of making.