I’ve come to an end of my month as Artist in Residence at Domaine de Boisbuchet in South West France. My only goal was to spend time in the forest and build a spiritual connection and weave sculptures that showed the spiritual narrative of the landscape. I completed a series of works that are inspired by Hilma af Klint’s petal forms she used as symbols throughout her work. I’m particularly interested in her use of the sacred geometric symbol of vesica piscis which I have interpreted as the the interface of the spiritual and physical worlds. The viewer is invited to look into the multiple layers of this work and see it is a representation of these two worlds.
My work references the intersecting of the petals – the vesica piscis – as a commentary of the how the invisible, non-material realm can uncover the psyche of human’s place in the landscape. But something very unexpected happened. Everyday I went for a swim in the river and there are beautiful dragonflies. A couple of times I sat in the river and a dragonfly would land on each knee (clearly my knees looks like rock!). After I nearly finished this series and I was looking at their wings right in front of me I realised that this series all have 4 petals – like 4 dragonfly wings. And the weaving looks exactly like their delicate wings. So I’ve captured them as well.
The petals are rattan waste from a cane furniture factory in France, with layers of charcoal and ash of burnt wood from fallen trees in Domaine de Bois Bouchet. The copper wire is an interpretation of the ancient basketry technique of looping.
Made while Artist in Residence at Domaine de Boisbuchet, France.