Security Blankets

The Security Blankets are dark-hued quilts appliquéd with shapes of business suits, war planes, bombs and missiles, all cut from men’s woolen suiting. Each quilt points to the unresolvable irony at the heart of current social and political life, the conflict between power and human values. more

“The Security Blankets offer a disturbing testament to links between Cold War politics and postmodern culture, between technology and our very notions of life and death.”
Bruce Grenville

“The particular point of departure for these works was the threat posed by the world’s nuclear arsenals considered from [Todd’s] perspective as mother/artist/feminist, a concatenation that is constantly challenged by the patriarchal culture that offers up weapons in the name of peace.”
Peter White

Read Nancy Tousley, "Night Watch: Barbara Todd's quilts protect against the chill of the post-Cold War dawn." Canadian Art, 9/4 (Winter, 1992): 42-45. PDF

Read Bruce Grenville, "Death and Deterrence," in Barbara Todd: Security Blankets, Lethbridge, Southern Alberta Art Gallery, 1993, and reprinted in Material Matters: The Art and Culture of Culture of Contemporary Textiles, eds. Bachmann, Ingrid and Scheuing, Ruth, Toronto, YYZ Books, 1999. PDF

Read Marni Jackson, “Uncoverings,” in Barbara Todd: Security Blankets, Lethbridge. Southern Alberta Art Gallery, 1993.