OF FIBRE AND LIFE... Bits and pieces of cloth sewn or glued together curtain the world. Bits and pieces of knowledge skillfully intertwined make up the study of history. Every civilization has this tradition of squirreling away precious fragments untill they are needed to create a whole. Works of art,especially in the 20th century are often nothing more than ordered fragmentations- with each fragment carrying it's own cultural load.
Monday, 18 July 2011
I had a gift recently of some beautiful old threads on wooden reels...apparantly they originated from a lady who spent her life in Africa and had to make all her own clothes...to me this is very poignant as it draws a parallel with that part of my own life spent there, when I had to make everything for us including baby clothes from tiny remnants,childrens clothes made from the legs of their fathers jeans,crochet cushions and rugs and patchwork quilts....all made out of necessity but which...unbeknown to me at the time, were setting the seeds for when I would use my past as a means of communication with my textile artwork.
The Studio sorted out at last!
A lot of sorting out and re-arranging has had to be done in the studio in order to fit in all the new work from the exhibition..especially the antique furniture,some of whch I have had to tuck in under the tables, otherwise I would have had no room to work...here are a few new images of the space....although I have had to keep all the wall hangings rolled up as there just isn't enough wall space for them at the moment.They have been taken off their antique carved wooden mounts too, and these are
now standing in all their beauty on the shelf....as ancient works of art in themselves I think.