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Gypsy Constellation
When deciding on what to
create for my final, I knew I wanted to combine different techniques along with
aspects of my esthetic to create a textile sculpture. Diane Itter, Jane Sauer,
Claire Zeisler and Nick Cave were four Craftsmen in Makers that initially
caught my attention and their work is where I gathered all of my inspiration
for Gypsy Constellation. When reading
about Diane Itter and how her work was “admired for their optically playful
patterns, splendid color, and determined smallness and detail” Makers: A
History of American Studio Craft (p. 427), I knew this is where I wanted the
direction of my fiber/textile sculpture to go. I wanted to make a piece that
was rich in color and on a verge of a visual overload just as Itter did with
her work. Jane Saucer also caught my attention with inspiration because I like her
choice of material she used to make her textile sculptures with twigs and
linen. This is where I thought of incorporating jute and manila rope for the
bases of my color overload. Claire Zeisler overall had a big impact on my
vision. Her “constructed balls of wool that looked both very dense and light
enough to float away”, Makers: A History of American Studio Craft (p. 262) is
how I thought of the idea to use wool pom poms. I wanted to create a sculpture
heavy in color but light on the eye as well. Zeisler’s coil works along with
her weaving/ knotting techniques also inspired me. Therefore, I decided that
the manila rope and jute base could be made into circle coils/spirals as the
foundation for the wool pom poms and my two weaving pieces. Nick Cave inspired
me with his use of randomized materials and 3D dimension. Then there is my
background as what type of artist I am. I have always been into textiles and worked
with many textiles before, but I however, also paint. This is where I came up
with the idea of having my textile sculpture on canvas. I wanted to merge both
of my passions into one…
Hula Hoop Loom Weave
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Cardboard Loom Weave
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With my inspiration flying off
the charts I decided to get busy. The size of my sculpture is 5ft x 4ft. All of
my materials are fiber/textiles which include: canvas, jute, manila rope, wool,
cotton, parachute rope and t-shirt yarn (rayon and cotton). I made two homemade
looms for my two weaving pieces. I have never woven textiles before so this was
exciting but also a learning process. I built one loom out of a hula hoop and
the other from cardboard. The hula hoop
weave took me about a month to complete. I wanted this piece extremely 3D so it
is about 3 ½ inches thick in the middle. I created it thicker so when I did a
thin boarder around the thick middle, it would bulge up and resemble a flower
to incorporate with my pom pom flowers that are on the manila rope. My weave
that was made on the cardboard loom is flat in the middle and budges on the
outside. I did this to create different structural appearances throughout the
sculpture.
Coils/Spirals
Laying it out...working progress
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For my coils I generated twenty
four different sizes. For each one I decorated them with the different yarn
fibers I mentioned above. This is how I held the manila rope together to create
the spiral shape. I wove each thread through the rope and tied knots whenever
needed to generate the patterns. I then arranged different neon colors of wool
pom poms to each piece. The big coils spirals took me about two to three hours
each to complete and the small coils took me about two hours. Each piece is uniquely
different and it feels as if each piece has its own spirit to me since I created
one at a time very slowly and with a lot of thought. The coils/spirals started
looking like constellations to me and from the beginning I wanted to create
something bohemian, therefore I created the name Gypsy Constellation. I know
mine is probably really odd compared to everyone else’s in the class so I hope
you all really like it!
Janet Koplos and Bruce Metcalf
2010
How wonderfully insane. It made me smile and laugh and want to try one. Good work.
ReplyDeleteWow! That took a lot of time and work! It's great how we're all so inspired by different things. I love the fact that we are all doing something different.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love this, Brea! My students just completed this unit and they loved it. I had kids lined up outside my door before I arrived to school each morning waiting for me to give them more yarn. I created a couple for my own collection and it's become a relaxing therapy for me. I can imagine how much fun it was to create all these different designs.
ReplyDeleteThank you all so much for the kind words!
ReplyDeleteFuture, I am glad it made you laugh and smile. I kept thinking it looks like something the mad hatter would create haha.
Gail- It did take a long time. I still have thousands of splinters in my hands from the manila rope haha.
Rebeca-It was fun to create each piece separately. The last five took me awhile to develop a design. I stood at the canvas and starred at the ones I had created and contemplated on what color combination I hadn’t used yet so there wouldn’t be repetition…haha. That was actually way more difficult than I could have ever imagined it to be. :)
This piece is so completely happy, it made me smile too. I had to share it with my sisters, one the Colonel that Quilts and the other one that knits. I love thinking about such bright colors as constellations. Your piece would be a great to see when starting a day.
ReplyDeleteGreat work, I enjoyed seeing how you made each one, I am a visual learner and it put the time and skills needed into perspective. Great use of so many different materials and weaving techniques.
ReplyDeleteConcentrated effort and whimsy-- great combination-- plus I want to touch them all. They look so soft.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely not odd (have you seen mine?). I like seeing your process laid out for us through photos. And I can totally see your influences of Cave and Ziesler in your work. I can see the Gypsy Constellation growing and growing into a huge installation of bright colors and textured fibers. Very neat!
ReplyDeleteLynn-It makes me satisfied with myself that you said whimsy. That is what I was going for.
ReplyDeleteMy best friend told me it would look cool hanging downward from the ceiling...I thought that was a good idea of how to display it.
Emily-I feel like our two pieces could be color cousins or something haha. :)
I am a growing artist still, therefore all of your comments really mean a lot to me and I am glad I got to be in a class with such talented individuals!