Kate Lenkowsky

 “And I saw all the toil and all the skilled deeds – that is a man’s envy of his fellow.  This too, is mere breath and herding the wind. The fool hugs his hands and eats his own flesh.”                                                                                                           

Ecclesiastes 4: 4-7

Translation from Hebrew by Robert Alter

In his study of nature and human behavior, Qohelet concludes that envy is self-destructive. In a world where no matter how hard one works, a satisfying outcome is not assured, where the dishonorable may be honored and the meritorious forgotten, envy is felt more often than admitted and is not easily overcome. By hugging his own hands, the envious person isolates himself from others.

In this abstract composition, fabric, thread, and color are used in the search for a way out of the trap Qohelet describes. Breaking Free from isolation in a self-woven cocoon and taking a meandering path through a world of whirling winds, disappointments, and sorrows—but also of opportunities for the discovery of one’s unique gifts—is the only alternative to the anger and resentment bred by envy.

About Kate

Kate Lenkowsky is from Bloomington, Indiana.  She is a textile artist and author of Contemporary Art Quilts: A Guide for Collectors (Indiana University Press, 2008). Kate has been a juror of national quilt shows, a curator, and has given lectures at the Textile Museum in Washington, DC, Indiana University and Baylor University in Texas. She is a member of Studio Art Quilt Associates and of several quilt groups in Bloomington and Indianapolis. One of her quilts is in the collection of Indiana University and another at Congregation Shaarey Tefilla in Carmel, IN. She was a participant in the 2020 RSA Seminar.