January 2009
My Work
I use Dupioni silk for its beauty and richness, its subtle textures and ever-changing appearance. My work is designed to take advantage of silk’s chameleon properties; daytime and evening viewings each have their own allure. In building multiple textural elements I leave the edges of the fabric pieces raw and loose threads unfettered. Stitching is done one row at a time as I guide the fabric assemblage through the sewing machine. These markings bind the layers, add texture, and rhythmically contain the energy and movement underneath.
Each piece is mounted on a stretched canvas frame painted black and is hung as a painting.
Reflections on “Stitches East-Stitches West”
Exhibition
Babiche Newsletter
December 2008
As an artist who creates in the abstract, I am sometimes asked by viewers what my work is about. Even though I am the author of the pieces, I don’t know that I have the words to adequately respond. I know certain “facts” to be true: that my work contains movement and energy, that it has meditative qualities. Perhaps what they are really asking is the source of my art. To that I answer that it is an expression of my aesthetic and the outpouring of feeling, experience and intuition.
I am always pleased to hear what others see in the work. I don’t plan any narrative when I create my art, yet viewers see mountain ranges, Zen gardens, fire, rainbows, the Milky Way. When viewers relate that the work conjures up concrete, physical things for them, they are telling me who they are as much as they are experiencing who I am through the medium of my art. It is a dance we do together.
Others react in a more physical way to my work. Showing recently at a booth in Toronto, I observed some people approaching while chatting or glancing around, and suddenly stopping in their tracks when seeing my art. To me, this is the greatest compliment.
Loving a piece of art involves making a personal connection that can, but needn’t be, expressed in words. This is one reason that I leave the titles to my series purposely vague. I want you, the viewer, to make the work your own; for the art to have the power to draw you in. Perhaps in a perverse way I am pleased that I cannot assign many words to adequately represent my art. By making a suggestion as to its origin or representation, I am robbing you of the opportunity to put your imprint on it, to determine what it means to you.
I admire the life led by the American artist Georgia O’Keeffe. I share her philosophy when she said: “I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way – things I had no words for”.
Like O’Keeffe, I am drawn to colour and shapes. I study colour combinations and lines, and pay attention to detail, always the detail. I have a minimalist aesthetic and I appreciate clean, organic, classic lines. I work with simple shapes, exploring how to create complex worlds with them. The simpler the concept, the more challenging it is to convey well.
Viewing art is not meant to be a passive experience. At its best it begs for a reaction; whether of attraction or repulsion is up to you the viewer, as the artist has done her part by putting her heart and soul into the work. When the viewer and artist connect via the art, it is pure magic.
See my list of current and past exhibitions