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Ian Danger Capstick

@quiltqueerly

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🌈 I make queer quilts for comfort and banners for causes real & imagined. Host of Art Against Empire podcast.
📍Tiohtià:ke (Montréal)

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Thought it might be good to better introduce myself and my art.

I'm Ian Capstick, a quilt artist and banner maker. My artistic path has taken me from a background in art direction and banner design to the more intimate and personal craft of quilting. My journey in design has instilled in me a love for bold colours and engaging narratives, which I now translate into my quilts and banners.

In my work, I create pieces to offer comfort and a sense of belonging. My quilts are infused with the vibrancy of the queer community - celebrating our very existence. My banners are made for causes both real and imagined.

I hope my work reflects my commitment to creating art for community and shared experience. by @quiltqueerly

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3 years ago

Created for my horticulture capstone assignment: Clothing, banners - and quilting projects - are often made from cotton that is grown in environmentally intensive and destructive ways. It’s my hope this banner can be a teaching tool used to demonstrate that a centuries old craft - quilting - can and should actively participate in reducing human made climate change. by @quiltqueerly

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4 years ago

SAORI weaving has an important principal: there are no mistakes. This is my first piece done in this style, and I had to sit with that idea for a while. I've spent my a lot of life in spaces where precision was the expectation.
SAORI was founded by Misao Jo in 1968 as a sort of rejection of perfection.

This piece is a teal cotton-linen warp from @gather_textiles. Japanese cellulose paper yarn and newspaper yarn from @irene_textile , found at @festivaltwist this summer. Thrifted scraps. And bright pink reclaimed t-shirt yarn from @loosends

None of these threads were supposed to meet. Neither were the ideas that got me here. #weaving #SAORI #rigidheddle #rigidheddleweaving by @quiltqueerly

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9 months ago

LEGALIZE QUEER JOY ⚡️ Made this banner last year as a reaction to the Canadian restrictions on poppers and now it's sadly timely again with the FDA crackdown in the US. These products have been part of queer culture for decades, and I believe we should question regulations that have no basis in science. Standing up for bodily autonomy and queer joy in the face of authority, with a fancy red fringe. #QueerRights #LGBTQ+ #CommunityActivism by @quiltqueerly

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a year ago

First prompt for #septextilelove25 ... I'm Ian Danger Capstick. Former political pundit turned textile artist, quilter, and new hand weaver based in Montreal. I host the queer room at @ZakFoster.quilts Quilty Nook, where conversations about craft and community happen naturally. This fall, I'm launching Art Against Empire, a podcast examining how textile work becomes a form of resistance—as it’s inherently political to choose to make things slowly and deliberately in a world that demands speed.The pride flag runs through my work as both reference and framework.

Those stripes inform how I think about colour theory, but also speak to how we organize space, build solidarity, and create visibility through repetition and pattern. My quilts explore radical ideas through deadstock fabrics and thrifted materials—rescuing textiles from waste streams and giving them new life as art.

My transition from politics and punditry to textiles reflects a broader shift from talking about change to literally fabricating it, thread by thread.

I'm interested in how craft traditions, especially those historically dismissed as 'women's work', can challenge empire in ways that political commentary alone never could. Working with salvaged materials in Montreal, I'm building a practice that questions both consumption and creation.

Photo by the incomparable @al.xtran by @quiltqueerly

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a year ago

"Peace was once a noble pursuit"

This banner is my reflection on the current state of world diplomacy.

The Uppsala Conflict Data Program recorded 55 active state-based armed conflicts in 2022. Eight of these conflicts reached the level of war, and 22 of them were internationalized, meaning that one or both parties received troop support from an external state. They found fatalities from organized violence in 2022 increased by a staggering 97% compared to the previous year.

Like so many I mourn the loss of life worldwide and feel utterly helpless, and turned to textiles to help me meditate on the present and process the current state of conflict in the world. The banner is made from my husband's and my old shirts; thrift store found batting and backing with the letters made from a long-forgotten family tablecloth.
55" x 27" / 140cm x 68cm

#Quilts #Quilting #ModernQuilts #QuiltArt #QuiltDesign #TextileArt #FabricArt #QuiltersOfInstagram #QuiltLove #Patchwork #QuiltMaking #HandmadeQuilt #QuiltsofInstagram #ContemporaryQuilting #ArtQuilts #QuiltingCommunity #QuiltBanner #BannerArt #TextileDesign by @quiltqueerly

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3 years ago

"Spirit Cape" celebrates purple which represents the idea of ‘'spirit' from Gilbert Baker's original pride flag. This cape was created as a gift for a Two-Spirit friend and is the fifth in the series.

The splash of colour from the progress pride flag on the inside is featured alongside fabric by Carrie Okemaw, (IG: @okemawfloraldesignsan) artist connected to Manto Sipi Cree Nation and the Anishinaabe community of Berens River First Nation, who created this design for @marshallfabrics

The cape's yellow elements, interwoven throughout, symbolize the power and resistance of my Two-Spirit friends and chosen family.

The term Two-Spirit is used by some Indigenous People to describe themselves. This term was developed in 1990 during the Third Annual Inter-tribal Native American, First Nations, Gay and Lesbian American Conference held in Winnipeg. It was intended to replace pejorative anthropological terms previously used and to differentiate Indigenous concepts of gender and sexuality from those of Settlers. by @quiltqueerly

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3 years ago

Learning to weave, documenting my progress. This might be a scarf? Maybe a quilt? It's a few more picks away from done... Reveal later this week! #handweaving #rigidheddle by @quiltqueerly

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a year ago

I made this tattoo-style banner to create more awareness of Doxy-PEP in the queer community.

Doxy-PEP is a new sexual health strategy to prevent bacterial STIs. You take medication that can prevent STIs if taken after possible exposure. It's a simple antibiotic - doxycycline - taken just once and can help protect against syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea. Ask your doctor if it's right for you. @thecbrc has lots more info - including material you can bring to your appointment.

The banner is quilting cotton constructed with raw edge applique. The graphic is by Matthew Britton Illustration and the font is Tattoo Museum by @woodcutterbcn

#QueerHealth #TextileTattooArt #STIPrevention #Quiltedbanner #queerquilts by @quiltqueerly

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a year ago

"Red Cape for Life"
183 cm x 81 cm
This is the first in a series where I'm making one quilt for each of the colours in the Progress Pride flag. This Red quilt features a bold teal stripe and can be worn like a cape. Red represents "life" in the pride flag and is the colour of the iconic red ribbon worn in support for people living with HIV.
#quilt #textiles #textileart #textileartist #quiltersofinstagram #queerquilter by @quiltqueerly

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3 years ago

Celebrating Orange with "Healing Wings"
: the orange stripe on the original Pride flag, designed by Gilbert Baker in 1978, represents healing. This quilt takes the form of “wings” and wraps around like a big hug. There is nothing more healing than a hug from someone you love. The back is made from an upcycled sari that has an incredible metallic sheen that is so hard to capture on camera. Quilted with fluorescent thread with a giant zigzag for maximum texture and to match the pattern in the backing fabric. Sixth in my Progress Pride series.

37” x 49” // 94 cm x 125 cm by @quiltqueerly

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2 years ago

This quilt is called "Gay Apparel" - a bright yellow poncho - and the fourth in my Progress Pride series where I am taking each colour in the flag and making a quilt about the meaning. Yellow represents sunlight: reminding us of the importance of being seen and living openly. This poncho takes us back to the 1970s when my Queer elders first started marching and demonstrating in public for the right to be themselves and proud. It's all about what I imagine it must have been like to be so visible at a time when so many could not be. 150 x 150 cm by @quiltqueerly

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3 years ago