Renee Patrick

Artist Statement

I'm Renee Patrick, a fourth-generation quilter and founder of Soulfullhands LLC, working in the tradition of African and African American story quilts. My practice is rooted in the lineage of Harriet Powers, Faith Ringgold, and Bisa Butler — using cloth as a medium for memory, history, and testimony.
My work centers on the African diaspora: ancestral histories, the genealogical record of my own family, and the often-erased histories of Black America and the African Diaspora. I work across traditions — appliqué, story quilts, Kente-inspired piecing, and arpillera-style textile narratives documenting historical violence against Black communities.
I gather my materials the way a griot gathers stories — from everywhere. Vintage cottons with decades of history in their fibers, vibrant Ankara and Kente-inspired prints, hand-dyed and Ndop cloth, traditional quilting cotton, and salvaged fabrics that carry their own quiet histories. Each piece brings its own voice to the work, and together they speak in a language all their own.
Every stitch tells a story. My quilts are acts of griot practice — preserving, honoring, and passing down what might otherwise be lost.