The Recollection: Shadow to Matter show is opening at White Bear Center for the Arts next week. I made this video to show the installation process. There is a longer version showing the layout process here.
Traces
Traces are memories, evidence, tracks, as well as discoveries. My 9-year-old nephew made a drawing at my studio last month, then turned the drawing over and traced some of the shapes, creating a new pattern. The Minneapolis Institute of Arts is showing Leonardo's Codex, his sketches and texts that are visible from both sides. Tracing the path of my own work to date, looking at the work of artists I admire, and reflecting on all I have gathered will lead me into the next work.
mordants on cotton
Moving from gathering to producing the work is hard. My intention for this 2 week period was to merge 3 on-going bodies of work into one single trajectory. I know the text/textile work, the Next Life project, and the natural dye work are related somehow. I've connected the Next Life project with natural dyeing by making collecting bags from running shorts, and by using pants to make weed-guards around newly-planted trees. Some of the t-shirts will be printed with natural dyes also.
I'll continue to trace over my notes and sketches to create the connection to Text/Textiles. “Patience means knowing it will happen . . . and giving it time to happen.”
― Susan Jeffers, Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway®: Dynamic techniques for turning Fear, Indecision and Anger into Power, Action and Love
Lost and Found: Gather
This next few days will be dedicated to gathering. Collecting materials for the natural dyes, and at the same time, collecting my thoughts, ideas, information. Residencies exist to offer artists time and space to reflect, research, and produce (resartis.org). The last 2 days I made space for this to happen. Today, I gather dyestuff, I will sketch, and learn more about memory patterns.
a gathering bag made from an old pair of shorts, more on that in another post.
In Gather Journal, a beautiful publication about food, the second issue was dedicated to Traces:
“Traces” has a multitude of meanings. They are memories. They are evidence of something that once existed. They are tracks or footprints. They are an indication of the tiniest amount. They are about discovery and examining one’s history. There are recipes that have traces of family history, having been carefully shepherded through generations, recipes with elegant visual traces, and recipes that leave traces of their own presence behind.
