I’m really
enjoying working on my first real ‘body of work’. Having found the overarching
theme that ties it all together, I exult in watching it come together little by
little, watching connections form, living the experience. There are many
different pieces in creation at one time, in many techniques, and they all
reflect on, and inform, each other. Amazingly, despite not having work
commitments, days can easily disappear quickly, so often just one little task
or some preparatory work gets completed, but it’s the constant daily flow in
the right direction that really creates the feeling of immersion.
I say my
first, although I had two exhibitions - Morphology I (2009) and II (2011) - ‘exploring the fascinating surfaces and
forms of fungus and lichen through contemporary textile practices’, featuring
felting, dyeing, shibori and free-motion embroidery. Yet this feels quite
different. Partly no doubt, because it’s a decade of experience on, it’s solo,
and it’s based specifically on my five-week artist residency experience on King
Island. It’s my main focus, my number one priority, it’s what I think about night
and day.
It’s also
very different for me to no longer be working on body-based sculptural pieces.
I tried very hard to do this with Morphology, but just couldn’t manage it. It simply
would not work back then; now it’s coming together almost effortlessly. It’s
really different to living with just the one idea for many months, as I have
for my previous wearable art works. I’m living with hundreds of ideas and techniques
at the same time, and surprisingly, working within the bounds of natural
colour. So many firsts. Below is a rack of backgrounds I am working on - all on solid felt backing.
Another is
the use of synthetic material. Normally an anathema to me, for this series I
was looking to use materials I already had, as well as those I could find
second hand. Bags of bridal fabric
scraps bought years ago had been pillaged for the beautiful lace, silk, and
tulle, with polyester satin begrudgingly stored in hope of future use somehow.
These came into their own, teamed with Polysol dyes, for creating large
background covers. Being polyester, I felt no compunction in painting over them,
piecing them together – making the most of them in general. The dyes have also been a challenge to work
with, as they don’t appear true in the pot. To summate – they are murky buggers
that remain a bit of a mystery until they come out!
The beauty
of this though, is that I finally get to work through this stash of both
artificial fabric and the dyes for them. Another way I have found of dealing
with synthetics materials in a non-wearable environment is being able to paint
in watercolour, as laundering is no longer a consideration.
It’s also
really nice to be revisiting the free-motion embroidery techniques which
initially brought me into the textile art world, learned in workshops from Ken
Smith and Carol Wilkes. I really value the notes and samples I have from these
times – from inspiration, to technique notes and machine settings.
