all the lived emotions

A couple of years ago I wrapped up some textiles that I had saved for a long time as a way to tidy things up.  I called them Mothering Bundles and took 42 of them to local curator Nicole Weppler in 2023.  She hung about 20 of them up in the Gore Bay museum.  See here.  

I like the unusual combination of nostalgia and minimalism that the mothering bundles embody. Wrapped in wool blanket cloth and numbered because without a list, it was impossible to tell what was inside each one.   

They had become little still points.  Separate sacred mysteries.

I re-wrapped 25 of them this past May with fabrics from failed online clothing purchases and unfinished quilt tops.  They became more individual, more interesting. 

They are each different from one another, yet retain the minimalist aesthetic I prefer. 

However, it's still impossible to remember what is inside them without a chart. 

 

This teaches me that our inner world is secret and can never be known just by looking at the surface. 

A few of these newly wrapped bundles make up a two-part sculpture.  "All the Lived Emotions".

(To give you an idea of what I've wrapped, the bundle at the top of this post contains the t-shirts that I wore in the 70's when we biked through Europe.  The next one contains the mermaid costume I made our 7 year old.  The last one holds fabrics from close friends who have since died.)  

dream, earth, luck, moon, soul

dream

Beginning again.  

Beginning in the middle.

Here is my sewing.

earth

Art is about relationships.

earth (other side)

Art may seem as if it is about nature or beauty, but it is about love.

luck

The more I study art, the more I realize this.    

luck (other side)

Because love is caring.  

moon

Some call it wonder.

patience

 Some use the term 'unselfing'.     (here is a link)

patience (other side) 

In order to do my own unselfing I take risks with materials.

And then I make things from what has become wrecked.     

rose

It helps me make sense of being alive.  

rose (other side) 

I have so many things to say right now, that I am not able to say anything.  

That's why I am beginning in the middle.  Here is some sewing.

Here are some of the small wool and velvet bundles I made during July.     

soul

I've been to Great Britain. Lots to say about that.  some of it here.

I'm going to Nova Scotia.  The reason is an exhibition, mentioned here.

Women sew as a substitute for words. 

Conversation with Susan Sontag in my mind

Me:  When I think about my work, I can't think of any reason to do it. 

         I can't think of any meaning to what I'm doing in it.

Only when I don't think about the meaning of it, or the value of it, or the importance of it, can I enjoy my work.

And I do enjoy my work.

Susan:  When we ask ourselves a question for a long while without getting a satisfactory answer, there is usually something wrong with the question.

Humans didn't ask art to justify itself until the late 19th century.  We didn't ask art to be useful or practical. 

Useful, necessary activities are different from voluntary, playful, dreamy ones.

Let's say that  practicing an art is the second type of activity.  Let's say that is why we are drawn to it.

Then it is a mistake to be demoralized because we can't justify it for not being the first type of activity..  It fails to be a number one type of activity, but it is not supposed to be.

The qualities of being voluntary and being free are what drew us to making art in the first place.  When we try to make art a number one activity we start to doubt our worth.  The worth of the activity and also our own personal worth.  It's demoralizing. 

Vagueness is not only a condition for art and for literature.

Vagueness is a condition for any life of the mind.

Vagueness is necessary for humanity.

As Consciousness is Harnessed to Flesh:  Journals and Notebooks 1964 - 1980                                                                                                          of Susan Sontag edited by her son David Rieff. 

Magdalena Abakanowicz: Soft Strength at the Tate Modern, London, England

Every Tangle of Thread and Rope, Abakans by Magdalena as installed at Tate Modern until May 21 

magdalena's brown abakan 1969,
 ball point pen sketch on opened note book, 6.5 x 8 inches

magdalena's embryology bundles circa 1980,
ball point pen sketch on opened note book, 6.5 x 8 inches

We visited the Tate Modern last week because I wanted to experience the Magdalena Abakanowicz exhibition.  While there, I borrowed one of those folding portable stools so that I could sit among the Abakans and draw them.  I wore my grey knit dress for these visits, because it had great pockets for my phone and little notebook.  My shoes were comfortable and I wore black tights, just like all the other pilgrims.  

embryology  1978 - 1981, burlap, cotton gauze, hemp rope, nylon, sisal, dimensions variable,
by Magdalena Abakanowicz

embryology, there are approximately 800 pieces in this body of work, 1978-81,
burlap, sisal, cotton gauze, hemp, stockings,  etc

When I sat close to the burlap wrapped bundles of the Embryology grouping, I could differentiate the wrapping materials:  brownish cheesecloth, grey and brown cotton stockings, twine, sisal, but I couldn't always tell what was inside them.  

Magdalena did not self-identify as a feminist yet her work is seen by many as emblematic of a powerful female imagery.  One can't help but think about birth and vulnerability while sitting with her work.  And sex.  And decay.  And nests, and wombs, and eggs.   Her work is about LIFE and its connection to fibres. 

mature woman sketching Magdalena Abakanowicz's Embryology
 at the Tate Modern, London, England

sketch of Magdalena's embryology,
 ball point pen on opened out notebook, 6.5 x 8 inches

By drawing them, I touched them slowly with my eyes.  I was touched by them.  They are hand made monuments to human labour and creativity.  The connection to the body and all its functions is so strong that I am finding it hard to express in words.  It's incredible.  The inspiration I felt when I was near them was deep.  I was pulled by heart strings into her spaces and even now, at home, I remember the experience as something holy. 

It was a privilege be so close to them.  I was in awe the whole time.  

Drawing the soft sculptures helped my mind and body absorb them. 

Sitting rather than standing helped my wobbly legs. 

mature woman in front of
Magdalena Abakanowicz's Abakan Orange 1968
at the Tate Modern exhibition, Every Tangle of Thread and Rope.

There's a new post on modernist aesthetic dedicated to Magdalena Abakanowicz's Abakans.   Click here

rock cut on the lawn

rock cut side one, a two part sculpture to be hung from the ceiling,
rescued wool blankets and hand stitched wool yarn,
 each part 8 or 9 feet high and 13 feet wide, 
still in progress after 4 years of steady work by Judy Martin 

Two things:  repetition and simplicity.

rock cut part one, side one  French knots made with wool yarn on wool blanket

I use the same stitch.   Over and over.

Also obsession.

I get absolutely lost.  I enter a kind of dream world while my hands keep moving.

rock cut part two, side two, reverse of couching stitch, wool yarn on mended wool blanket

It's too much to understand, the hours and hours of time that are in the work.  

rock cut side two, a two-sided two part suspended sculpture,
rescued wool blanket, plant dyed wools, hand stitched 
each part 8 or 9 feet high,  13 feet wide,
looking puny on the lawn
but it is a big piece by Judy Martin, begun in 2015

Two sides.  That's because I want the viewer to move around the work so that the body is engaged, not just the eyes and mind.     

Because we know with our bodies.                   

The Path of the Heart: Lenore Tawney

To be an artist, you must be brave.

You can't let yourself be scared by a blank sheet of drawing paper or a white canvas.

But what you put on that paper or canvas must come from your deepest self.

To discover this place is our aim and our goal.

Your attitude of openness toward this place in yourself can be like the thick layer of leaves on the forest floor, in that it is always there, no matter what goes on above.

Our instinct drives us downward to the source; there we have visionary experiences made visible.

This can be what motivates you to keep on what I call The Path of the Heart
This path and the seed of your own work are within each one of you.

(her work smock)

One thing I must tell you: what we most try to avoid in life is, in fact, our greatest teacher
- that is pain, anguish.

This pain and this anguish, take us off the surface of life and into the depths where the treasure lies.

This is your life, dear friends.
Meet it with bravery and with great love."   Lenore Tawney

(the black coat she wore to her openings)

The text in this post is Lenore Tawney's commencement address to the graduating students of the Maryland Institute College of Art in 1992

The images are from my visit to the exhibition Mirror of the Universe at the John Michael Kohler Art Center in Sheboygan Wisconsin.   The main exhibit remains up until March 7.  Cloud Labyrinth comes down January 19 2020.    I have written about this exhibition with more clarity on Modernist Aesthetic.   go see. xo

Magical Material Thinking

To Lips velvet, brass, porcelain, mirror 2019 by April Martin

This post is about our daughter's exhibition currently on at Harbourfront Centre of Craft and Design in Toronto.  Magical Material Thinking.

Romance Portal (detail) brass, wax  2019 by April Martin

The objects are whimsical hand made treasures created from solid materials that, like humans, change from within through experiences.

It's an exhibition of two artists, but this blog post is just about April's work.  It's up until middle of October at HarbourFront centre of craft and design where she is a resident artist.

"There is no denying the joy of encountering a group of objects that transport you to another
otherworldly place"  Melanie Egan, curator of Harbourfront Craft and Design

Ideal Solution pewter, cobalt carbonate fired to quartz inversion, earthenware 2019 by April Martin

I was able to attend the opening celebration on July 11, along with many of April's friends and family members.

Fashionista April in sky blue shoes.

Snek Out neon, earthenware, unfired cobalt carbonate 2019 by April Martin

"The sheer pleasure objects can evoke and the delight artists experience through their
engagement with making and materials is a cause to celebrate."  Melanie Egan

Brightening Visibly copper, wool, carbon fiber 2018 by April Martin

April made Brightening Visibly when she was home with Ned and myself the winter of 2018.  The title comes from a favourite saying of Ned's that she had heard since childhood.   It was his answer to questions or statements (mostly about food) such as me saying: "oh sorry, there's no more broccoli "  and him responding with a smile: "brightening visibly".

Hard to believe, but in the sculpture pictured below, there is no adhesive or indentation to keep the scales in balance.  Just balance itself.

Rising Libra fired and unfired cobalt carbonate, clay 2019 by April Martin

"Artist April Martin and designer-maker Natalie Sirianni present an exhibition of curious
objects and installations infused with the alchemical nature of materials, process, and thought. "
Melanie Egan, curator

cobalt carbonate in unfired state is pink

cobalt carbonate after firing in kiln changes colour to blue  Rising Libra detail

The photos in this post are from the opening, and suffer from the reflections on the glass cases.

Romance Portal

For much better photos and April's observations about the creation of this body of work, go to the blog Modernist Aesthetic.  

To Lips

Love you, proud of you, dear April xo