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Woven Chair
Chair/Embroidery Floss Chair installation as part of a group Winnicott Wednesdays project. The chair stands as the art object, exploring elements of group and individual symbolism in relation to our places and identity in the group. This chair only just stands out against the black as a watery imprint resonating with my geographical distance from the group currently. The thread leaves a mark on the chair in my absence, clinging on to part of a presence. Chairs are full of symbolism around having or not having a place, being provided with a space to rest or sit or your voice being valued at a table or meeting. Being included with this project felt important, representing my part in the group, even though far away. Often, in the context of an art therapy group, a chair will still be present in a group member's absence, marking their absence and acknowledging their continued part of the group. http://winnicottwednesdays.weebly.com |
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Mothlight
Charcoal 42x59cms |
Mothlight was created as part of the A Void Exhibition with the Artist Art Psychotherapist Collective Winnicott Wednesdays. When working on an image for the Winnicott Wednesdays Artist Collective exhibition, I was drawn to moths and how they fly towards light bulbs mistaking the light for that of the moon, their navigation being interrupted by human-made light. Originally I was thinking of how people are drawn to things that attempt to fill a sense of a void but that distract or don’t meet the underlying need or feeling, such as interacting constantly on phones, keeping busy, sugar, coffee, alcohol, cigarettes and so on. These can be part of avoiding the experience of feeling alone or attempt to fill the void felt between people. Phones and media in particular represent attempts at connection, sometimes met and sometimes not. I instinctively wanted to keep the moon shape behind the bulb, focusing on the centering aspects of a circle, which can be linked to a breast, face or womb. When the moon is full in particular it is such a soft glowing shape, a beaming focus point. My thoughts then turned to the early experiences of attachment and separation; how we all separate from an ‘other’ when we are born. The womb is a place where one is intrinsically joined and held together by another being, then becoming symbolised by the nourishing breast and face feeding back the baby’s experiences. After birth, there is always a gap between one and others. Perhaps the feeling of loss or isolation comes and goes for everyone throughout life whether we are aware of it or not. As I filled the areas between moths with charcoal, I was struck by the quality of the spaces between, being full and textured rather than empty. The dark matter in these gaps is full of energy and experience. Our attachments and separations play out in our activities and interactions with phones and media in the spaces between. This image holds two sides, connection and disconnection, akin to many shared experiences in relation to interactions and political shifts in recent years. The moth represents transformation due to its extreme changes in its life cycle, making me think of the dynamism and potential in the process of separation, when alone and at times of political upheaval.
