LAND / Marks
Narrative:
This piece was created to honor the way memory shifts and fades, and how grief is experienced in the body, while simultaneously acknowledging how the horizon can be a healing symbol. In addition, the work explores the disparate themes of memory and sky because both act as a filter through which we see our lives. The woven abstraction speaks to an altered horizon that is referenced in different junctures experienced in my life –the blue from Lake Michigan in which I grew up, the Atlantic Ocean that I swam in along the coast of S. Africa, the blue horizon experienced on the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland. This piece serves to examine meaningful intersections of connection, and hold space for the viewer.
Techniques Used: Handwoven strip cloth, sewn together, naturally dyed warp threads with indigo using a fructose vat, along with comfrey gathered from Detroit and over-dyed with iron oxide minerals; stretched on canvas and mounted on wood.
Materials Sourced From Nature: The indigo seeds were supplied from Color Wheel Michigan, a natural dye collective in Detroit, MI. The indigo was grown in my backyard garden, and comfrey was collected from a neighborhood nearby at a local park. I used a fructose dye vat to create the depth of color, repeated the dip dyed process, and over-dyed aspects of my warp threads with iron oxide minerals.
Other Materials Used: This piece was woven as strip cloth using cotton warp and weft threads, and then stretched on two different canvas panels, mounted on wood, and embedded within a hand-built wood frame.