MICHAEL D. CLIFFORD, MDiv, PhD
Psychoanalysis is like making a quilt—lots of little pieces are assembled over time to make patterns. In an analysis, it is hoped patterns of meaning emerge. In a quilt, patterns of design—color, texture, images, scale—are created. This quilt is entitled “Our Analysis.” I made it during the pandemic for my former analyst, to commemorate our many years of work together. I collected fabric over 25 years with this quilt in mind. (I’ve made more than 75 quilts.)
This piece shows our shared interests. History —there are images of early Americans (not just presidents, but Sacagawea and York, people of color who were crucial to Lewis and Clark) and important sites in American history (the gazebo where Madison wrote the Constitution). There is history in the fabric itself--almost all of the fabric is reproduction fabric of the 1800s (transference be thought of as a new reproduction of the past). There is also writing on fabric—our shared love of literature and a reflection of a recurrent dream I had as an adolescent, that I would find a book that would tell me the meaning of life-- only to never quite be able to read it!
Birds—because “hope is a thing with feathers” (E. Dickinson). Lots of images in toile fabric of dancers and lovers. And some jokes—there is one image of a Greek supplicant burning incense before a statue of a goddess. That square is called “My idealizing transference!” There are almost 730 separate pieces in the quilt, and perhaps 350 different fabrics.
Our Analysis
(Textile/Quilt, 90” x 110”)
Psychoanalysis is like making a quilt. Both can keep you warm—memories from an analysis can warm bitter nights—but so can snuggling under a quilt.