'Black and White and Red All Over' at Duck Creek

The Arts Center at Duck Creek will present “Black and White and Red All Over,” a collaborative exhibition by artists Louise Eastman and Janis Stemmerman, on view in the John Little Barn from May 3 to June 8. A public reception will be held on Saturday, May 3, from 5 to 7 p.m.

This visually striking and conceptually rich exhibition brings together Eastman’s bold textile works and ceramics with Stemmerman’s evocative prints and sculptural installation. The exhibition’s title draws inspiration from the classic riddle — “What’s black and white and read all over?” — referencing newspapers, a traditional quilt pattern, and the broader themes of storytelling and cultural inheritance. Longtime friends and collaborators, Eastman and Stemmerman explore the interplay of visual language, material, and memory through a shared palette of black, white and red.

Louise Eastman, a multidisciplinary artist working in ceramics and textiles, presents six 90-inch square log cabin quilts in black, white and red. The log cabin motif, historically rooted in American quilt making, places a red square at the center to symbolize the hearth, with surrounding logs forming the structure of the home. Eastman notes the pattern’s folkloric associations with the Underground Railroad, and its continued relevance as a symbol of shelter, resistance, and care. Also featured is an installation titled “Flying Geese,” 2024 featuring a hearth made of glazed, slip cast bricks and quilted cloth. The exhibition also features a series of collaborative prints by Eastman and Stemmerman, incorporating the log cabin motif and again reflecting on the symbolic warmth of the hearth at the center of home and creative life.

Janis Stemmerman presents “Note to Self,” an ongoing project first executed on paper in 2024. The work centers on a rediscovered note she wrote to herself 30 years ago, which she carved in reverse into felled maple trees from outside her studio. In the 2025 interpretation of this work titled, “Note to Self (1993) Domesticity,” the carved trees are inked and pressed by hand into quilted fabric, producing black and white impressions that hover between text, print, and textile. The prints are displayed above a horizontal arrangement of the inked trees, and accompanied by a series of red ceramic vessels shaped by domestic references such as pie tins and pitchers.

As a companion event, the third annual “Airing of the Quilts” at Duck Creek will take place on Saturday, May 17 (rain date May 18), from noon to 5 p.m. This beloved community tradition, organized by Louise Eastman and Erica-Lynn Huberty, invites the public to bring their quilts to display on the grounds and share personal stories. This year’s “Airing of the Quilts” will highlight the log cabin pattern, extending the exhibition’s themes of history, home, and shared narrative into the open air.

The Arts Center at Duck Creek is at 127 Squaw Road in East Hampton. For more information, visit duckcreekarts.org.