Tuesday, February 17, 2015

metaphor and beauty

 
 
I've been interested in metaphor for ages.
I want my artwork to be all metaphor and beauty.
The kind of beauty that hits you hard, in the heart first, and then the mind.
That causes you to remember your own deep secret life, and also my work.
Together linked.

Susan Rothenberg

3 comments:

  1. The bottom image is of a HOULI, an older woman's garment from Chenini, northern Africa..

    I am intrigued by the supplementary weave border that cleverly exploits the dye absorbing properties of different materials. Wool takes up dyes readily, cotton is less successful. The effect is revealed over time. At first they look solid, but after time, the cotton details become bleached out through washing, wearing, and a subtle design of white motif against the darker ground becomes evident. I am not positive if this explanation or this goes with this particular shawl. It could be that the darker ground is made from black wool and the white areas are supplementary weave white cotton ...no dyeing involved.
    A Houli is a long, wrapped and pinned garment. These are rare. Young girls wear white, brides wear red, older women wear blue, black or brown.

    All this information and the image are from John Gillow's excellent book, African Textiles, page 125.

    ReplyDelete
  2. "The effect is revealed over time."
    "At first they look solid, but after time, the cotton details become bleached out through washing, wearing, . . . "
    "wrapped garment"
    "Young girls wear white, brides wear red, older women wear blue, black or brown."

    All of these descriptive, explanative phrases are beautifully metaphoric when uttered around the long cloths.
    The long cloths take my breath away on their own. Add the words and . . .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am very excited about the possibilities in these cloths. Thanks for your feedback. xx

      Delete

I hope that we can have a conversation about creation. Thank you for taking interest. x