Went off to my group at Art Station this morning. Hadn't done any knitting since last week so it was nice to be able to sit down and knit for a couple of hours. Was delighted to find that we had a guest speaker, Susan Jowsey who had images of her art career which took off dramatically about 1990 when she won the Visa Gold Award with her series of blankets, with embroidered words like faith, hope in the same cream colour and which kept the original stains and had more added by Susan to create the effect she wanted. Then there were red crosses on each blanket as a symbol of salvation. Carrington Mental Hospital had just been closed and the work came out of her capturing the histories and humanity behind the austerity of mental illness at that time.
One of the next images was of artworks which were made out of old baby clothes and had other pieces added to them making them into something new and transformed. She made about 100 small crosses out of layers of them, oversewing them with embroidery. They fitted in a lunch boxwhen not installed somewhere.
Other domestic objects she used were a coathanger, scales, a cardigan, the insides of handbags, again with all their stains which she used in her capacity as "a rearranger of life".
Then she moved away from art as object to art as photograph, using her daughter as model. Now she works collaboratively with the family - eg in a film her young son made she added certain effects, as did her husband, also an artist and photographer.
Her latest work is as a digital artist and we were shown 2 very short art movies with the aid of the computer. Again her husband, Marcus Williams, appeared in one.
One of the next images was of artworks which were made out of old baby clothes and had other pieces added to them making them into something new and transformed. She made about 100 small crosses out of layers of them, oversewing them with embroidery. They fitted in a lunch boxwhen not installed somewhere.
Other domestic objects she used were a coathanger, scales, a cardigan, the insides of handbags, again with all their stains which she used in her capacity as "a rearranger of life".
Then she moved away from art as object to art as photograph, using her daughter as model. Now she works collaboratively with the family - eg in a film her young son made she added certain effects, as did her husband, also an artist and photographer.
Her latest work is as a digital artist and we were shown 2 very short art movies with the aid of the computer. Again her husband, Marcus Williams, appeared in one.
The photo, still life with yellow phone represents my domestic craft for this afternoon. I made 4 jars of marmelade which I put into old Rose's marmalade jars, and preserved two small jars of Golden Queen peaches from our garden. The golden double yellow hibiscus is from 4 Salisbury Street. I gave the bush to my mother about 23 years ago. It is in one of my favourite vases of hers - it has butterflies on it. The yellow telephone I am going to sell on Trademe.
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