RioBravoFineArt Presents Quilts by Yadi Flannery

Yadi is a native of the East Coast, where her grandparents immigrated from Poland and Ireland. Early childhood experiences with her grandmother drew her to fabric and its great variety. Her grandmother scavenged fabric from clothes, blankets, and castoffs to make household objects. (Yadi, in her words, has a “scavenger lineage.”) A love of color and pattern came from her mother’s and grandmother’s gardens, and she developed sewing skills as a young child. She crafted her sewing and fiber art skills when she moved after graduation from a two-year liberal arts college to West Virginia for an off-the-grid life, back-to-the-land movement. She left Appalachia to live and work in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and has been a part of a highly successful alternative medicine practice of eight practitioners for over forty years.

Yadi’s dynamic life history is fully reflected in her astounding artistic creations. Her quilts reflect the patchwork sensibility of past artists without being constrained by the past. Some of her quilts incorporate some of the classic geometric shapes that dominate traditional quilts, but these shapes float freely throughout the quilts. Other quilts have a single geometric pattern overlaying the quilt, but fabric patterns and colors flow freely underneath and within the overlaying geometric pattern. Regardless of the overall design approach, each of Yadi’s quilts are stunning images rich in an abundance of color and pattern.

Yadi uses various techniques – seam stitching, embroidery, heat fusion and raw edge. Once she has a concept for an image, she begins a fabric “auditioning” process that, as she says in her artist statement, “drops her into a silent and instinctive practice of choosing cloth that speaks to cloth, allowing the spirit and color of the piece to emerge, as my joy and love of the work and process also emerge.” Yadi’s vision for her work reflects, in her words, “my personal relationship to the beauty of our unique planet, my deep love and desire to represent her using cloth from around the globe, both old and new, and to revel in the process of quilt making.”

For this exceptional show by Yadi, RioBravoFineArt is partnering with La Galería, a gem of a gallery located in Mountainair, New Mexico. Concurrent with the RioBravoFineArt show, one of Yadi’s most outstanding pieces will be on exhibit at La Galería. La Galería is in the historic Shaffer Hotel building in Mountainair; the Shaffer Hotel is a rare example of Pueblo Deco architecture.

The Yadi quilt show continues through January 25, 2026.

RioBravoFineArt, located in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, has a large display space of six thousand square feet and represents over two dozen artists. Truth or Consequences has a strong artist community and, on the second Saturday of every month, the galleries and artists of this community sponsor Art Hop, where the galleries and artist studios stay open for extended evening hours. RioBravoFineArt is in the Historic Hot Springs District of Truth or Consequences. The Hot Springs District has popular spas that incorporate naturally occurring hot springs. Truth or Consequences is in the center of historic, recreational and scenic areas in Southern New Mexico.