Last semester in my gridded piece I positioned the sewn
trees in rows aside lamp posts to reference the repetition in the grid of the
city. At times the trees in my piece became vines and began to take over the
manmade in the city. It was a reminder
that ultimately man cannot control nature (decay, growth, change). I decided early on to use the sewn trees on a
much larger scale for this project to reference a sublime nature.
This semester I am creating my own manmade space that
attempts to echo both the sublime and the architectural. As romanticism noted there is more to the sublime
than just beauty. The sublime can be
unnerving and chaotic. It is spontaneous
and unpredictable.
In the manmade one sees an attempt to order nature and
recreate beauty, and sometimes deny the sublime. In doing so he uses pattern and
repetition. The pattern and repetition
attempt to control the spontaneous nature of the sublime. It attempts to put nature back in its place. There
is both frustration and awe in the fact that humans cannot compete with the Divine.
In my work I recall the sublime through scale. The manmade is referenced in the repetition
of the tree structures that become both architectural and ornamental. They have a dual nature. They are evenly spaced with branches meeting
in arches. The materials (silk, beads,
organza, and lace) attempt beauty but unravel in a way that evokes the natural
elements of a tree and vines. The
structures move back and forth from architecture and ornament to reference
nature and the sublime.
The lace is both patterned and chaotic as it loses its
structure. The materials are fragile and
delicate and evoke the seductive quality of beauty. Light shining through the piece creates
shadows that reference the unknown.
I have now completed and hung several of the tree
panels. I am beginning to add the
architectural elements. My next step
will be to find a way to tie all of the pieces together visually. I am also considering adding small areas of
color to the piece. This was a
suggestion from my review. I have always
liked a great deal of color in my work.
I have left it out of my last two pieces. I would like to find a way to bring it back
in without overpowering the piece.
