FERAL SELF-PORTRAIT

I have decided to stick with this font, its sparseness means I can write very little whilst appearing to have written much. 

I pulled out an old tapestry weaving that had been banished to the cupboard of shame for five years or more. Her re-appearance was the result of a conversation I had with a "kiwi" visiting home on annual leave from working on Christmas Island.

Kangaroo Paw, pencil on trace paper.

Christmas Island is used by the Australian Govt. as an off-shore indefinite holding facility for ex-criminals, refugees and other undesirables.

I was finally able to make use of the shell casing covers I managed to  aquire some time ago. Cut outs of stylised Kangaroo Paw flowers were used to soften the main weaving with a border of flowers.

They are used as a strong symbolic statement for the end work. The juxtaposition of stylised flowers, the cropping of the self-portrait through use of framing defines and contains the woman, the darkness surrounding the face creating a veil like quality. All these combine to present a surface layer of ambiguous meaning from a distance. 

"Ramadhan On Christmas Island"

 

PAUA SHELL LOOMS. (Abalone)

For those of you who have no idea what a Paula shell loom may be, here are a couple of images taken from a recent day of play, making brooches.

Linen warp, silk slub, cotton, fine copper wire and feathers.

Of course the problem is that the weaving looks so cute in-situ, that no one wants to cut them off the shell when they are finished weaving. These shells grow to quite good sizes in the colder waters of the NZ coastline.

I will be running a community workshop next Saturday at the Franklin Art Gallery in Pukekohe. Give Nansi a ring at the gallery to book a spot. It is free to attend, and there is a morning and an afternoon time slot available.

Good Bye Beautiful Sudio Space

Well these fragments of my studio wall space are but a memory now. Everything is packed up for a new start elsewhere. I am tapping on the door of madness trying to keep an eye(and memory)on the detritus of essentials I need for creative pursuit. 

Genette and company.

These are photos taken from my "protest walls". Alternatively it could be a record of un-sold works, and there may be a connection there, Hmmmm.