My intentions for this exhibition changed several times as life nudged, pushed and pummelled in its usual fashion, and rather than being pissed off with my lack of a well- lit and clear artistic path through the usual unpredictable chain of interuptions, I thought why not just embrace whatever direction I’m meant to take.
Embrace the feelings, embrace the interuptions, don’t fret about the stress
The Exhibition therefore comprises a jacket which was my entry for the Fleece to Fashion event in Armadale last year, and several other Jackets, created in series, as I was trying to duplicate an order based on a knitted felted jacket, that a customer had fallen in love with.
Each time the pattern would need to be amended slightly, which necessitated knitting a whole garment of extraordinarily large proportions, to be felted and shrunk down. The amount of felting required seemed an unpredictable and impossible task, I’m sure it changed depending on how many times the garment was stirred in the dyepot. At times I felt overwhelmed by this literal mountain of knitting and the uncertainty of what would eventuate.
The original jacket had also been dyed in the most extraordinary deep magenta/ fuschia mix. Recreating the color was a challenge in itself, especially as the dyes have changed over the past 20 year or so since the original jacket was first made.
I have used mostly merino wool, machine- knitted fabrics, made into garments, then hand- dyed and steam- sculpted to shape. I am primarily interested in the line and silhouette of the garment and how it skims over the body, and love knitted fabric for its forgiveness, its fluidity and lack of rigidity.
The other items include Hand painted Jeans, Digital Art T shirts and a series of Brooches and various forms of adornment.
