Craving Connection

Craving Connection

With the residency now coming to a close, I prepare for a show at the gallery. I don't anticipate much of an audience. After months of many people hunkering down, some are taking the first ventures beyond their bubble. We can't stay cooped up forever and as social creatures, we crave connection. We thrive on it.

I've been working on an artist statement in response to art making and have drafted a little something....

Intertwine

Artist Statement.

For me, artmaking takes a new sense of urgency in the midst of current circumstances. My year long fascination with wet felting, using nature as my informant in the design process, has not deterred, rather amped up. This show, Intertwine, was conceived under different times. I wasn’t even sure this exhibit was going to happen. The high touch, low tech experience has been overshadowed with new mantras of our times. To touch =germ transfer. Here, to touch= connection. Connection to life. Others. Our natural world- which we have become woefully out of sync. Originally, I was to share in a live demonstration how these pieces were created using wet felt techniques. Still, you may participate.  I invite you to take a seat on a cozy stool. Take off your shoes and feel the hand-felted rug on your bare skin. A rug that was made using methods dating back hundreds of years. There are other ‘touchables’ of sample roving, felt, and fleece, but please do not touch the wall art.

On inspiration: Nature has always been an informant. One of my favorite places in Colorado to observe nature’s design is the bristlecones near Mt. Evans. Here, tangled forms dance with the elements over time. Concerning the groupings, some pieces seek to capture clearer, harder forms and edges, while others showcase the unruly side of raw wool. Color shifts, diaphanous forms, and opaque spaces render paint-like effects.

Although my residency year with 40 West is nearly complete, my fascination with wet felting is not. I plan to continue felting with the addition of developing natural dyes. I hope I can still slow down, observe, and disembark from the sometimes inhuman pace the modern world demands and keep making those profound connections.

Intertwine is June 5-27 at the 40 West Gallery, 1560 Teller in Lakewood.
Gallery hours Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 12-4pm and by appointment