With the dust of the residency beginning to settle and the works in a place of pride in the MARS gallery of theGRID, life is returning to normal. I have time to reflect, and post a behind-the-scenes montage of the making of Humine Spongiform II - Advancement.
Is montage even the right word for it? Anyway, here we go;
First, we start with the raw materials:
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| Woollen...tubing? |
I spent months on these in the lead up to my residency. They take between 7 - 25 minutes each to make. You'd think with the time spent on making these individual items, I would have a name for them now, but no.
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| First class potato bag. I only work with the finest materials. |
Fact: When you take the seams out of a hessian potato sack, you have the start of a long, narrow rug. A hallway runner perhaps?
When you sew a series of long, narrow strips of hessian together, you have the start of a long, wide rug. Usually, for less than $5.
Crocheting or blanket stitch around the edges increases strength of work in travelling and storage.
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| Hard to believe, but this has been through a washing machine at least once. |
Then, you begin the painstaking process of sewing each individual piece onto the work. Try to remember to take photos of the work at regular intervals, or it may look strange in retrospective posts.
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| You sew.... |
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| and sew... |
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| Some nights, gnomes take a break from cobbling shoes and do several feet of rug for you... |
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| Then you take some happy snaps.... |
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| And keep sewing. |
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| Stitch stitch stitch. |
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| Note to future GRID residents: bring suncream for the back of your neck. |
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| Not much to go now! |
In almost no time at all, this work is nearly done (lie).
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| The last of the woollen tubing on the left. |
I didn't want any leftover pieces, so it was (mostly) good when I ran out early. From then on, I custom made the pieces. This took much longer than I would have liked.
Now, for the heart-stopping moment of happiness;
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| Last. Piece. |
Question for all artists, textile and non-textile craftspeople: In the final moments of creation, when that last small detail is falling into place, what is your emotion? Also, how do you feel, physically?
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| Complete. |
Ecstatic, nauseated, proud, protective: this is how I feel when I finish a large-scale work. On a small scale work, I also feel these emotions. But on a smaller scale.
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| Complete. |
This work is currently being exhibited at the MARS gallery in theGRID space in 488 Ruthven St, Toowoomba City. After that...?
Please continue to watch this space. And thank you for watching it previously.
