Experience beauty with intention
Time is a commodity that we modern humans barter like currency. We use verbs like "spend," "save," "budget," and "waste" when we discuss time.
In the analog world of creating cloth and manipulating it to become fine art, time is a prominent factor. It takes hours and hours to dye each thread and weave it pick-by-pick into a section of cloth, then wash and finish that cloth to become something beautiful and refined which most often comes to be used in a functional way.
How long does cloth last? The oldest existing dress in the world comes from ancient Egypt, but cloth in general is a perishable thing. In its lifetime, what does cloth see, who does it hold, how is it used? What stories does cloth tell? What is its value in your life?
As you engage with the cloth in this show, let the time just... pass. You can practically feel time in the fibers as you do this exact thing in this exact place on earth in this exact moment in time.
Reflect: In what ways do you wish your time to pass?
Displayed at Colorado State University Visual Arts Building
November 30-December 7, 2020
Self care is something we've had to practice a lot of lately. With this room divider, I practice. It shields from the harshness of our current reality and puts something beautiful in front of me instead.
It doesn't make the bad go away. It just helps to create a new perspective.
Imagine an old, broken-down building in a neighborhood you don't frequent. The building was once grand, but somehow over the years of urban living in a harsh weather environment, it has lost its grandeur. It's broken, an "eyesore," needs a lot of work. That or be razed altogether.
An investor comes along, someone who sees the building's potential. Sees its location as "perfect." Wants to turn it into something. Not return it to its former glory, but make something glorious from what it is now.
Re-seeing is the goal when it comes to the humble workhorse of the kitchen: the "lowly" dishtowel.
What is your relationship with this everyday object, one that doesn't usually acquire much of your attention? How might you come to see this simple piece of cloth as worthy of notice, consideration, and beauty, even if all you ever do with it is wipe up messes?
After being woven on a loom, these towels were deployed into actual kitchens with just one directive:
USE THIS TOWEL LIKE ANY TOWEL IN YOUR REGULAR DISHTOWEL CYCLE. Wash it normally. Observe your experience with it.
As each family used their towel, they also considered it, noticed it, engaged with it.
The used towels were returned to me 6-20 months later to display, accompanied by reports of their experiences.
The towels were not too beautiful to use! They were beautiful AND used. The art is not just the cloth, but also in the use of the object being used for the exact reason it was made to begin with.
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