Beauty is...

When Lin Hsin-Chen proposed the line challenge, I was stumped. I think there were just too many possibilities for me to easily settle on a single design. I photographed a wide variety of linear inspirations ranging from tire treads to the construction of a native indian Chickee (aka Tiki Hut). I imagined scientific depictions of elements and DNA, and envisioned creating a similar model to represent some decision making process (perhaps the challenge of design?).

 

Beauty is...

As I mentioned in my prior blog post, the weeks passed and I still had no direction. I think the turning point was when I chose to interpret line as a method rather than a subject. Specifically, I decided to focus on thread and stitch. Once my “line” decision had been made, I was free to choose any subject. 

I chose an eye for two reasons. The first: I love circles and frequently doodle in curves and arcing shapes. Secondly, the iris is like a fingerprint, unique to each individual.  I thought depicting an eye would be an interesting analog to the linear representation of a fingerprint. In retrospect, there was probably a third reason: the harmony (or irony?) of using an eye to communicate my vision.  

“Beauty Is…” is a whole cloth quilt, created with Setacolor fabric paints and then thread painted with a variety of cotton, rayon, polyester and metallic threads. Despite my late start, I had so much fun with this challenge that I actually painted two different eyes. I am looking forward to finishing the second one soon!