My Mum was keen to renew her skills in sewing and her and I spent our time together on a loosely based 'Sewing Bee' workshop. We didn't do much actual machine stitching but focused our attention on paper pattern alteration (enlarging and reducing), mixing paper pattern designs together (the waistband of one thing, the bottom of another), and paper pattern fit (darts, length, hang etc.). It was very useful and I don't think I would be as bold as I am at this stage with my sewing if we hadn't of done this together.
She very generously treated me to my own mannequin, or dress form, which I now carry with us in our van to help me with getting a good fit to my garments.
I have about 10 items of clothing to make now, that should keep me busy! What pleases me most is that I am tackling different types of fabric, be it denim, fleece, cotton, corduroy, jersey and satin/polyester, all with their different nuances and characteristics.
I have been doing some knitting as well, simple squares and rectangles, purl and garter stitch, using different types of wool and then converting them into 3 dimensional objects. As I have been knitting I realised that I am making fabric. This is such an obvious statement, but I have then said it slowly, again, and started to think, what does that mean, 'I am making fabric'? And how could I interpret that in an art context?
My pierced blackened paper artworks have long been hinted toward textiles where I have changed the qualities of the hard paper through the act of piercing it with a needle to form a malleable fabric. If artists make paper, how could I make 'fabric' by the process of knitting with a 'thread'?
I like the flat squares and rectangles of knitted wool as they are. They make me think of written scrolls. They have the sense of scribbled writing (the wiggly lines of the wool), row after row, line after line, a document, a recording. Even the left over cut strand at the end feels like a sort of signature. I also like the idea of making the flat squares and rectangles into 3 dimensional objects, think of the possibilities.
Yes I am sewing and knitting, and for myself, but I do feel this could be developed within an art context, somehow? The dress form is related to the human figure, but what if it was the picture frame that I was draping paper or fabric with? I see many artists working on and off the picture frame, addressing the frame as a subject and object. What if I could extend the characteristics of the dress fabrics that I am exploring - their materiality, malleability, structure, strength and so on?
In 'The Creative Path' e publication, a guide offering advice and ideas for motivation if you feel you are stuck, from www.textileartist.org, they ask you to question why do you like the materials you use, for example, is it about colour, texture, form? I need to think about these questions a bit more.
Whilst in Kent, I took a trip to London to visit the Agnes Martin exhibition at the Tate Modern. A painter, she has been recommended to me a number of times and I have seen some of her works sporadically over the years.
I was most interested to learn more about the artist herself having learnt she disappeared for a few years in a campervan, just as her career was taking off. She went out into the 'wilderness' seeking solitude, silence and simplicity. How did she make art during that time (I don't think she did, much), and why?
I brought the book 'Agnes Martin: Her Life and Art' by Nancy Princenthal, published June this year, an insightful biography about this artist, to learn more.
Martin claims that her surroundings, her way of living was separate to her work, not necessarily an inspiration or influence. I think for me at this time in my life, my life style is also a complimentary factor, but not direct to the work I make.
I brought the book 'Agnes Martin: Her Life and Art' by Nancy Princenthal, published June this year, an insightful biography about this artist, to learn more.
Martin claims that her surroundings, her way of living was separate to her work, not necessarily an inspiration or influence. I think for me at this time in my life, my life style is also a complimentary factor, but not direct to the work I make.
It was so good to read links to other artists and writers that I have heard about and am interested in - Mark Rothko, Yoyoi Kusama, John Cage, John Dewy ('Art as Experience' 1934), Susan Sontag ('The Aesthetics of Silence' 1967)... All in a time of art history that I like.
Martin's work has often been linked to textiles which she was not happy about. It's got me thinking about my work, more and more.
There is a whole heap of information about Agnes Martin online if you would like to know more. Here are just a few suggestions:
In the exhibition, my favourite works of Martin were her grey paintings and very tight, minute, grids. That won't surprise those who know me. I particularly liked 'Untitled #12'1984. You can sense that the work took Martin a long time to make, very maticulous, detailed. Many works invite you to look at them close up, I in fact preferred to view them from a far. Some of Martin's striped paintings annoyed me, I didn't like their smudgy lines! Many of the striped works felt unfinished, maybe that was just me not finished with them?
In an article recently in The Guardian newspaper, the journalist writes about 'The seven ages of the artist'. At what point in your career do you achieve your identity, or create your best work? I am on a slow burn creatively and have been for a while, loving my blackened pierced paper works, but wanting to move on; not able to practically use pigment in my small mobile studio, but what to create in it's place? I am known for my blackened pierced paper, but how to move that identity forward and further? Here is the article:
Shawn and I are now in Portugal. We finally made it into Europe after a very long wait. We are staying at a campsite in the middle of the country in the countryside. It is a time for relaxation, 're-grouping' and deciding what we want to do next. What am I going to do artistically? We were last living in our van full time between 2009 - 2011, travelling every three weeks or so from one place to another. This time we want to take things much slower, stay in an area much longer, get to know the place better, it's people, customs, community etc. We do need to work. We like going out exploring, but we also like spending time in our van. I am a mobile artist in residence.
Parked up in Portugal