Researching Hundertwasser and his body of works, I preferred his spiral paintings. He wrote an essay in 1974 titled “The Spiral”. It is a fascinating perspective on his philosophy of
spirals. Here is an excerpt: ... “Our whole life proceeds in spirals. Our earth describes a spiral
course, that is we move in circles, but we never come back to the same point.
The circle is not closed. We only reach the same level as the point where we
began. It is characteristic of a spiral that is seems to be a circle but is not
closed.” ...
For my inspiration, I chose the following piece that he created in 1960:
The I Still Do Not Know
That title is very appropriate for my journey as an artist…I
still do not know what my "artistic voice" is. However, I DO know that
I am not an abstract artist. I DO know that I do not like layering, collages, or “messy”
work…I prefer realism and harmony.
Creating a piece in his style has proven to be the most difficult task that I have undertaken. As I attempted to interpret his style, I realized that I did not own any fabric in primary colors. No problem, I went to my quilt shop and stocked up on what I needed. Unfortunately, I could not accomplish my vision with cottons. Eventually, I found it easier to felt wool and wool rovings to complete the top. To finish, I layered it with batting and backing, then quilted around the spiral.
Upon
completing this challenge, I am pleased with the results and what I learned:
Despite coming full circle in this project, I never arrived back at my starting point, building a spiral of my development as a fiber artist, moving onto the next level.
The title to my piece is:
I Know Now
Maybe all of us learned new things with this artist . I relate to your 'processing' and I found myself doing much the same . Because his works are so busy it was difficult to extract elements to interpret or to simplify. I really enjoyed your interpretation of his spirals .
ReplyDeleteYour interpretation of the piece of work you chose was really great. As I said I also found this artist extremely difficult to interpret and also can't produce "messy" work. Your excerpt of his essay on spirals was most interesting and although it was a challenge it has turned out to be a good challenge and your piece interprets that so well.
ReplyDeleteI would never have thought of felting but your handling of it is perfect for your piece. You really delved into the theory and essence of his thinking and his painting. Result!
ReplyDeleteI am amazed at the result you have got with your felting. Fantastic piece.
ReplyDeleteThank you Venetta for bringing attention to this philosophical aspect of spirals. How true, I had never thought of this difference between circles and spirals and I use a lot of them in my work. I love your piece and your thinking process.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting following your thought process on this. And you have really responded well to this challenge. The wool really adds a lot of texture and warmth to the piece.
ReplyDeleteWell said! You certainly aren't new to felting. This must have been so much fun to create.
ReplyDeleteI can only agree with everyone here! A great combination.
ReplyDeleteI emphasise with the difficulty of producing abstract work, and you have really managed it with this one. I've always loved spirals, and I enjoyed hearing about Hundertwasser's philosophy behind them.
ReplyDeleteVenetta, your piece sings to me! For it being a method of madness you don't normally do or enjoy, this piece speaks volumes about your talent as an artist. The fact you chose Felting as your method takes this a step further. I love it.
ReplyDeleteI admire how you have been able to make such a successful piece despite the subject being against your natural inclinations.
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