Gaia in Repose

 At long last, I can post my finished response to the Horizons challenge.  I contemplated the interesting insights from my fellow artists, and decided to create some sketches with undulating lines in my sketchbook.  I was struck at one point, how the lines took on the look of a hilly landscape, and later, with how similar those lines were to the curvilinear shape of the human body. The result is a bit of a trompe l'oeil piece. After painting the fabric, I played further with line by adding lines of quilting to provide perspective and dimension. I might well have entitled the piece "Ambiguity" because there is so much! Some viewers don't even see the figure at first.  And is it a hillscape or bed coverings? And finally, where is the horizon - where does the land end and the sky begin?

Gaia in Repose - detail

Or maybe it should be entitled "Perseverance" because of the many obstacles that hindered my completing the piece by the due date.  My trip to Taiwan - the experience of a lifetime - stopped production midway; then a family trip took me away for five days; professional obligations took priority on my return, and I am starting a new day job.  But the final straw last night was the cat deciding my quilt looked like a nice cozy spot for taking a nap.

Snoop, napping with Gaia (yes, the iron was off)

Now the piece is finished and ... what's this? The new challenge has been posted!  Back to the drawing board, quite literally. No rest for the wicked!

Movements of Lines

by Lin Hsin-Chen

"Movements of Lines"

     Any form of artistic creation takes a process of brainstorming and conceptualizing. Comprehension is also part of the creative activity, providing fun and enjoyment. The third challenge is proposed by me. These two months, July and August, are when I prepared for hosting Taiwan International Quilt Exhibition 2012. The two events coincided and inspired me to create the work. The experience of representing real life events in artwork makes a lot of sense to me. 

     

        Works from all parts of the world link to each other on the map, forming beautiful totems. That is a miraculous and familiar process! As the exhibition plan makes it possible to bridge the distance between countries, the topic “what is seen” is deepened. The administrative efforts behind the exhibition are complex, involving every detail that could impact participants, events, objects, and consequently the people’s minds.

It is important to simplify the complicated into something easier to understand. While a creative activity could mean looking from a different perspective and being empowered by experiencing something new, the pursuit for a simple yet beautiful view is still tough. Sometimes, there is ambiguity, and sometimes obscurity. What the eyes see could be misleading and confusing. However hard one tries to see clearly the lines on the horizon connect each other, the lines remain as unclear as ever. That is a challenge. Maybe, what is seen is an interpretation from a different angle.

     

       Perspective can impact how one learns and feels about beauty. Gazing at the “vertical” horizon, I was surprised to find that there are not only horizontal lines that connect both ends and that the vertical connection provided a simple yet aesthetic experience. The brand new visual experience has given me a chance to know the magical power of nature.

"Movements of Lines",
*vertical orientation

Title: Movements of Lines

Size: 48cm X 81 cm

Materials & Techniques: thread and cotton, all made by hand sewing

*This quilt can be displayed in two orientations

 

"Movements of Lines", detail

I am lucky enough to embark on a different creative journey when preparing for the event of TIQE2012. Movements of lines involve so much and so profoundly. I have learned a lot from VIEWPOINTS9.

Beyond the mountains, the small town story

"Beyond the mountains, the small town story"

By: Misik Kim
Put the picture of this challege on the wall of the my studio.
watching it for a long time,
A lot of imagination.....
Beyond the mountains, what?
Imaginary town was peaceful and quiet.
These kind of challenge works are the first time for me.
The space 18" * 24" was a new challenge to me, too. 

"Beyond the mountains, the small town story", detail

Mountains Behind Mountains

"Mountains Behind Mountains"

This was a wonderful challenge for me.  It had me looking at all sorts of things with new eyes and new awareness, considering the obvious for the first time.  My interpretations morphed over and over, pondering each members' thoughts on the challenge and reconsidering my own.

Traveling from my home in Florida to my new home in California last month, the flight connect through Las Vegas, NV.  As we coasted in for landing, the mountains rose in the distance, farther and farther until the were merely an outline in the haze.  A metaphor for our travels in life and things to come.  Some gentle hills, some treacherous (shudder), they lead us on to our utopia (thanks, Betty).

"Mountains Behind Mountains" depicts my new horizon, the San Francisco Bay looking north to Marin County.  A vista that changes so dramatically with mist and fog and the setting sun.  I am happy to be here.

"Mountains Behind Mountains" was created with commercial batik fabrics and silk organza using raw edge appliqué while looking fantasizing about setting up my studio in my new house next week:)

Genesis

Genesis

To me, a horizon is more of a concept that an actual line- why?  You can never get there.

One thing I do constantly in my work is seeking out new territory- in imagery and processes.

Currently, I am trying to achieve dimensionality with the use of a needle and thread and a few common materials to sculpt the surface of the fabric.

In this piece, I've used hemp, kitchen string and crochet cotton to form an abstract image of a neuron.  Horizons begin in our brains, we look for them, strive for them, and constantly new ones appear.  Neurons connect in many dimensions, ever changing and expanding, just like artists who are always seeking new challenges.

Genesis, 18x24"

Genesis, detail

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!

Nomad in the Desert

The inspiration for my challenge piece has been an exploration of concrete and transient lines.  The design is based on a photo of my brother sitting at an outdoor café in Aqaba, Jordan.


I love the crisp lines of stone architecture contrasted with the organic shape of a person sitting on a soft couch.  The intense sun creates sharp shadows at this time of day, adding new shapes and colors every hour. 


The title “Nomad” refers to the nickname I have for my brother Patrick.  Born to travel, he never lives in one place for more than a few years.  Although he is constantly venturing into unfamiliar territory and adjusting to new cultures, customs and languages, he has the uncanny ability to remain completely true to himself.  He’s like a shadow gliding easily over the architecture, becoming part of the scene but only temporarily.

Seven Sisters

I started with ‘horizon’.  I didn’t get too much farther in my thinking with ‘line’.  As I began thinking about horizon, with ‘lines’ in the back of my brain, I began looking at the heavens.  In my research the words Astronomical horizon had captured my imagination.

I’ve always been intrigued with instances of groups of people, quite separate geographically and culturally, coming to very similar places in their descriptions of their environment, their explanations of the outside world and their mythologies.  While I was looking heavenward metaphorically, I remembered that many peoples have similar stories of the spirits and deities that reside in the heavens.

Pleiades, for example, is know as “seven sisters” to Australian Aboriginal communities and the Nez Perce of North America, “daughters of the night” to the Berber, and “seven sisters-in-law and a brother-in-law” for the Ben Raji of Nepal.

We are all similarly hard-wired with a need to survive.  To survive we must understand our environment and, sometimes, that means we impose meaning on natural phenomena.

Across the world peoples have drawn imaginary lines in the sky, describing creation tales of morality and explanations for earthly people, and, of course, those that navigate the globe.  

Seven Sisters: 18”x24” artist dyed, painted and stitched

A Way Beyond

When I visited Zion National Park in Utah, USA I was inspired by the towering mountains and cliffs of rock, reaching from the canyon floor into the sky. I took many photos of the intersections of the peaks and was intrigued by the meeting point, the line they created. These images were perfect to revisit for this challenge.
I see A Way Beyond as a metaphor for Life's journey which is not always smooth. We encounter junctions, dead ends and blockages along the way. If we can keep our focus on what lies beyond, we can overcome the difficulties and find a way through to our future.

Materials- hand dyed fabric, printer ready photo sheets, wadding, oil paint sticks, thread, commercial fabric backing.
Machine pieced and quilted.