This piece was inspired by and made while under lockdown during the Coronavirus pandemic, though it can also be read on other levels independent of specific events.
The grid, which would normally be hidden, holds all the elements together and in relationship, no matter how distant they seem from each other. Nothing is adrift.
The pigments I used were those I had on hand at the time, as I was preparing a book on inks and paints in the Abbasid-era Middle-East: cinnabar, red lead, orpiment. The rose colour (cinnabar + lead white) and purple (cinnabar + lake dye) were prepared according to the medieval recipes I was reconstructing.
Creation process:
Drawing the grid
Using coins to work out placements
Painting the pattern
Punching…
Stitching…
This is wonderful. Beautiful on so many levels. The history of the paints, the construction, but especially how each island of color is interconnected with the others, and is part of a whole. It is a hopeful work.
Thank you! That’s the feeling I was working with 🙂
I have come back to look at this a few times since you first posted it here, and every time I do, I cry. Really. This is beautiful.
Gosh, thank you! I’m really touched.