I
thought that it would be interesting to
share some of the starting points and ideas behind the spiral drawings in
this exhibition.
My interest in the spiral began a few years
ago when I was researching Australian Aboriginal basketry techniques. I was
particularly interested inspired by the coiled basketry that was made by the
women from Gapuwiyak in the exhibition “Women With Clever Hands.”
I began drawing these woven objects in an
attempt to understand them and think about them through drawing. It occurred to
me that I was drawing them as if I was weaving them rather than trying to
depict them.
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| Joyce Milpuna Bidingal, Coiled basket (detail) dyed and woven pandanus |
I then began a stitching process based on
the drawings that I had been making. I was interested in the feedback loop of
making and drawing. I wanted to explore what happened when you switch from one
mark making process to another, examine what elements of material and line
arise.
Since then I have been using the spiral to
explore meditative mark making processes and this line of enquiry led to the
creation of an animation of the stitching process.
I undertook a yearlong stitching project
and wanted to find a way to share the process of making with the viewer knowing
that ultimately they would only be seeing the result of the project. It was an
attempt to invite the viewer into the process of building an artwork stitch by
stitch. I wanted to invite them into a contemplative space that the making gave
to me.
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| pranayama, 2014, cotton thread & silk. Image by Miho Watanabe. | |
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The
two spiral drawings I’m working on for this exhibition were created during
recent overseas residencies. One took place in Japan, in 40°C heat and 100%
humidity, and the other in Iceland in -9°C with accompanying wind and snow. The
two places diametrically opposed in climate and many other aspects and
performing the same repetitive actions in both their differences became more
apparent. As my fingers froze and I kept dropping the remote for the camera
when I was filming in Iceland I could not help but reflect upon the sweat that
was pouring down my back when stitching the spiral three months earlier in
Japan.
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| Children's paper lanterns at a festival in Onishi, Japan. |
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| A 10 am sunrise in Blondous, Iceland. |
By Gillian Lavery
