JANE SAUER GALLERY presents our annual exhibit by textile artist Charla Khanna of Taos, New Mexico. This year the theme is “Plainsong,” referencing an unadorned form of music consisting of a single unaccompanied melodic line. In the 1980’s this form of music became very popular for relaxation, even reaching the classical music hit lists. Charla’s dolls are anything but unadorned although the process of creating each is no doubt a form of meditation.

Our yearly presentation of Charla's dolls is eagerly anticipated by both her many fans and the gallery staff. Each year brings a new theme, a new series of ideas, and new fabrics to amplify the ideas. This year in Charla’s life has brought something very new. As Charla says, “I am just fine, with my shiny new stent,” referring to her heart attack and repair in early 2011. Charla most directly addresses this in “Night Skies: Compline.” Attending Catholic schools seems to be exercising more influence now than in the past. She states, “in traditional liturgy, the day has been divided into parts with an appropriate time for prayer at each junction.” Compline offers assurance that having finished a good day’s work, all is truly well and the time for gratitude and reflection has arrived. The deep cobalt blue garment with golden yellow highlights brings the viewer into a dreamlike cosmic world.  In “Kid Dreams of Cosmic Matters” the cosmos is approached in a more playful manner. A childlike house is surrounded by swirling stars, moons, comets, and planets creating a lovely playground.

Charla Khanna dolls are always a feast for the eyes and the heart. They are not saccharine or child-like. “Doll making provides me with the best vehicle to express what I want to about life, people and ideas,” Khanna says.  “They are like strings flowing out from my mind. Each doll represents a knot on the string. Each knot is related to the knot that preceded and the following knot. The strings are also related to one another.”

“Another string that occurred to me this year has been a repetition of hearts. It seems like a prescient joke that I was drawn to this form over and over again in the past year,” says Khanna. “Anniversaries II” holds memories of an old quilt pattern that builds small squares into a series of hearts. In Charla’s hands the pattern is made contemporary and the solid colors are bold and joyful. Charla says, “it is such a nice full shape and I smile each time one appears in my work.”