Coulter Fussell: The Proving Ground

Born in Columbus, Georgia, and now working in rural Water Valley, Mississippi, artist Coulter Fussell transforms donated textiles, photographs, clothing, and found objects into striking quilt-based works that blur the boundaries between painting, sculpture, and storytelling.

An airbrushed T-shirt from the Tupelo mall. Beaver tails. The scarlet petticoat of a Carolina clogger’s skirt. These are just a few of the unexpected materials that have found their way to Fussell’s studio through a word-of-mouth network of friends, family, and neighbors. In what she describes as “an exercise of archaeology,” Fussell sifts through this collection of discarded textiles and cultural artifacts, uncovering the histories embedded within each object. “It’s been lived in, loved on, cast off; it has a history you can see and feel,” she explains.

Drawing on quilting, dollmaking, and upholstery techniques passed down through generations of women in her family, Fussell collages these materials into richly layered works that explore memory, place, family, and the evolving landscapes of the American South. Some pieces evoke recognizable Southern terrains, including the Lower Chattahoochee River Valley, Mississippi’s hill country, the salt marshes of South Carolina, and Louisiana’s ancient Poverty Point earthworks. Others chart more personal geographies shaped by dreams, imagination, and remembrance.

The Proving Ground marks the first museum-organized retrospective of Fussell’s career, bringing together more than 40 large-scale sewn collages and mixed-media installations spanning five major series created since 2020. Together, these works trace the evolution of her singular artistic practice and reveal the “proving ground”—a space of experimentation, reinvention, and care—where her ideas continue to take shape.

The Columbus Museum is proud to celebrate this Columbus-born artist by welcoming her first large-scale museum retrospective, offering visitors an opportunity to experience a powerful body of work that transforms everyday materials into extraordinary stories of resilience, connection, and the American South.

Contribute to Coulter’s Creative Process
Bring clean fabric to The Columbus Museum throughout The Proving Ground. Donations will be shared with Coulter Fussell for possible use in future artworks, giving our community a chance to become part of her ongoing artistic practice.