Saturday, November 15, 2014

wild pure

wild pure panel 2 side b
wild pure panel 1 side b
In this post, some photos of my piece for the exhibition Wild Pure Aesthetic Wonder, curated by Gloria Hickey and Phillipa Jones.  Gloria has written about this exhibition on her blog,  here and here.    
wild pure panel 1 side a
hand stitch
repetition
small marks in big spaces
vintage domestic textiles (re-purposed wool blankets in this case)
plant dyeing 
archetypal pattern
traditional hand work,
an earthy minimalism 
wabi sabi
wild pure panel 2 side a
I am exploring the idea that both sides of a two-dimensional piece are the right side.

I consider the inner life of each of us to be more important than the outer surface we present to the world.

In this body of work I am striving to make the two sides equally beautiful and interesting.

Over the summer I dyed yards of blanket weight wool with plants that grow wild locally.

Three vintage wool blankets (two were pink wool when I started) were dyed with blackberry vine and iron and I am using them as the base for appliqué and stitch.

Both sides are the right side.  Above is panel one.
 Both sides are the right side.  Above,  panel two.
My grand idea is to eventually complete three-four panels and hang them from a curved support so that the viewers will feel wrapped with intimacy and awed by immensity. (sketch)

Like we feel when we are out in the wild places of nature.   
For this exhibition, Wild Pure Aesthetic Wonder, I will show one panel only and must choose.  Above is panel two  (shown with audition fabrics pinned to it).
I'll focus on it over the next weeks.

My piece has to be in Newfoundland by January 2015 as the group exhibition opens in St John's in March, and then it goes on to Gros Morne national park May through October. The wild pure exhibition is an important part of the Fibre Arts Newfoundland conference.  

16 comments:

Ms. said...

STUNNINGLY FINE

Velma Bolyard said...

i imagine walking through this forest of cloth.

Montse Llamas said...

The way you want to hang your piece reminds me of some works of the sculptor Richard Serra, with the public walking among the curves:

http://micasaesmimundo.blogspot.com.es/2007/12/richar-serra-la-materia-del-tiempo-en.html

Judy Martin said...

Montse
I walked through Richard Serra's huge metal sculptures at the Dia in New York in 2012, and the feelings that I had when so close to the rust and the age and size of them - has stayed with me.

Yes, I am directly inspired by that experience and am hoping to replicate it in some way, a gentler way I suppose, with cloth and hand stitch.
x

Bethany Garner said...

Dedication to a body of work that is dynamic... important. This piece is just a part, and will stand on it's own as a tribute to your commitment/vision as an artist. Always in awe.
Bethany

Mo Crow said...

love the expanse of your vision combined with the deep attention to the details Judy!

Penny Berens said...

My dear Judy, this is very exciting work and I so look forward to seeing it one day soon. As you know I love the backs and find them just as important as the fronts. I have already had that feeling of being enveloped by your work at the very first show I ever saw....and this will be spectacular.

Debbie said...

Stunning piece of work and colours, all my favourites.

Lesley Turner said...

wonderful concept translated with such thought and beauty

Connections Fibre Artists said...

I am in awe !

Threadpainter said...

oops, wearing my other hat ;)

Heather said...

Wow, what an incredible mind boggling idea - both sides of a 2 dimensional piece are the right side, the inner and the outer. You've just rocked my world, Judy!

Helen said...

Wonderful textures and on a large scale like that it's such a pleasing earthy effect.

mansuetude said...

Going to wrap the experience around us. Stunning work.

Mary in Bath said...

I have just discovered your blog, and am stunned (in the nicest possible way) by your amazing work! Love it!

jeanne hewell-chambers said...

Oh lordie, I could pull up a chair and have a long conversation about this. Firstly, Love the title of this post: Wild Pure. Yes.

And I couldn't agree with you more about the back sides, the wrong sides. That's why I leave so many of mine showing - knots and seams and all. In Only Love Survives (that commemorative wedding cloth that's literally as big as all outdoors), I decided the seams and joinings were important to the integrity, to the meaning, to the conveyance of the piece. And with Nancy's works, sometimes I like the backs of the cloth better than the front.

Last but not least, I now get your comment on the facebook thing I posted yesterday . . . hatching, hatching, hatching.