Maletsatsi I
Recycled nylon thread and fine liner on Fabriano
68 cm x 51 cm
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
Would you agree that the evening sky is misleading? How does it deceive us that stars are mapped in the same place each night? How are light years reduced to brief moments of observation? How does it play with perception, reducing celestial forms of magnitude – suns, moons, planets, constellations – to trails and clusters of tiny dots? Evenings spent in areas with minimal light pollution allow a subtle, silent conversation with these celestial forms. Telling tales about their formations.
The conversations continue in the studio, where blank sheets of paper are interpreted as the clear evening sky, void of stars and suns, awaiting their formation. Through the playful practice of pointillism and unweaving nylon bags traditionally used for trading oranges, I have found an avenue to an unexpected meditative process, approaching each work without preconceptions of what the end product should look like. The philosophies of late South Korean abstract artist Park Seo-Bo provide comfort for the tedious labour; his belief that repetition and drawing are foundational for meditation.
The process prompts questions relating to the metamorphosis that exists in the lifespan of the materials and all matter in existence. The nylon fabric takes on a new identity: a thread used for paper embroidery, resulting in the formulation of fictional theories about the formation of suns and celestial beings. Repetitive mark-making plays on the imagination, forming lands filled with planted sun seedlings awaiting harvest. With symbols unintentionally creating an ancient text-like arrangement, suggesting a language for suns and celestials.