It all started back in the spring of 2016 at an annual art crawl called Artista Vista. I conducted a performance/installation art piece over the weekend: Nike's Advice. I suspended a bolt of unprimed canvas from the ceiling and (with help from the public) painted 130 feet. Nothing used was bought new. All the paint, oil pastels, inks, and fabric came from auctions, yard sales, and through donations.
I blogged about this unique experience HERE. I also worked with two videographers who documented the project. CLICK HERE for a one-minute time lapse. My concept involved a challenge to myself ... to paint ... to finally abandon my own preconceived ideas of "painting" and JUST DO IT! Another challenge was to actually USE all this stuff and materials ... you know ... reduce, reuse, recycle ... JUST DO IT!
I really didn't have any firm plans for the painted fabric until receiving an invitation from art quilter Sandra Poteet to participate in a show called Things that Matter. (Catalog available.) That was another BIG challenge. The work was to occupy a 60" x 60" space. I used a section of the fabric and stitched Nike's Advice I and wrote an accompanying statement about recycling ... as in JUST DO IT! I've stitched several other pieces since that time. One of which went beyond stitching. I used fabric stiffener to seal the surface and then poured UV filtering epoxy over it. I really liked the results!
Some time ago, Steve and I unrolled the rest of the painted canvas. Most of it was hideous (and that's putting it kindly!) Painting with the public doesn't necessarily result in a high quality artwork, especially when absolutely no instructions or guidelines are given. Sections, however, held some promise. I salvaged eleven, small pieces. I started stitching on them before going on my art residency in Illinois. I finished stitching over a week ago.
Steve built heavy-duty stretcher bars to my outer dimensions. All the sides of the stretcher bars have been painted in colors to coordinate with the artwork. Foam-centered board was cut to the same dimensions and edges have been painted too. Nine of the pieces are in various stages at the time of this blog post but two of them are finished!
First, the foam-centered boards were glued to their painted stretcher bars. Then a few dabs of glue attached the artwork to the foam-centered board. Next, 3/4" copper slating nails were hammered through the artwork and foam-centered board ... right into the stretcher bars. Finally, UV epoxy was poured over the surface.
It is really, really difficult to get a good photo of these pieces. The epoxy is quite reflective. Yet, the surface is truly unique ... somewhere between art quilt and painting and something resembling "glass". As the other pieces progress, I'll be posting them. With the current COVID-19 crisis and quarantine, the work is actually progressing quite rapidly. It almost feels like an art residency at home! I am, however, waiting on more nails. These short, pretty copper nails were ordered from Jamestown Distributors. Thankfully, they are "in the mail" already! Can't wait to get them!
3 comments:
Wow, that's a very cool project. Your results are great, you described them finished surface well. That's a lot of stitching. Was there any issue with needle holes showing because of thick paint? I don't notice any in your photos. Stitching like that, around the painted shapes is one of my favorite ways to stitch on painted fabric. I'd like to see some of the hideous bits!
Love the finished pieces..and understand completely about "inviting others to assist" - I think twice during art school when I attempted community involvement, I had to give up. Particularly as some of the community were friends of mine, and thought they had a better concept AND that I was doing it all wrong. And then they proceeded to do it all wrong...I don't how much I binned as I couldn't make it work!
And then more recently, I was knitting a small type of "leaf structure" - SMALL obviously hadn't got through and some ungainly large objects appeared but they came with a message "I don't want them back.." whew, most went to the bin!
Love the idea about attaching a piece to foam-centred 'board' and then to stretcher bars. Were the nails to be extra assurance that it was fastened to the board...or just decorative...or both? What sort of 'look' would you have without sealing/covering with epoxy? Just curious! :-) Your work -- and how you bring your 'vision' to fruition -- continues to fascinate me.
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