It was so delightful to have Alex Janvier as our artist for this challenge. I was born and raised in Fort Benton, Montana, located 60 miles south of Alberta, Canada. Learning about Native American Indian culture was part of my upbringing so I was thrilled to learn more about him as a living indigenous artist raised in my part of North America. His art is truly unique with his strong sense of color, movement and lines. I especially marveled at his expert inclusion of animal symbols that are identified with tribes of the Pacific Northwest. He so skillfully places these in his work, that one must study his art to see what and where he includes them.
For my personal challenge, I began by using silk fusion pieces that I made in a workshop with Tamara Leberer at Quilt Adventures. I wanted to recreate the fluidity of color and shape of his work. "Premier Joy" (shown below) was my inspiration piece. I purposely layered silk fused shapes to intersect in a similar manner but very simply. To highlight these shapes and intersections, I edged them with silk sari cords that were couched on with invisible thread. To further enhance the colors, I positioned my silk fusion rendition onto fabric that was dyed to look like pulled string art. To finish, I included images of an eagle, a fish and a feather done in the style of Indigenous symbols.
I was very drawn to this piece too Venetta, but couldn't make it work for me. Adding your silk fusion pieces and referencing Janvier's use of animal symbols has made this interpretation your own.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you've some of the traditional motifs in your piece. And the way you've captured some of his shapes.
ReplyDeleteLove the use of the sari cords to edge your shapes. Clever use of the shapes to bring in the 3 images. Great piece.
ReplyDeleteWhat caught my interest with Janviers art was the clever way his shapes became fish or birds or flowers or hands. You captured this perfectly in this piece.
ReplyDeletePhil's comment says exactly what I would have written. Well done.
ReplyDeleteI would love to see this in person Venetta. The colours and textures are so rich
ReplyDeleteAny chance that you might be coming to International Quilt Festival this year? I will bring it then!
DeleteYou have simplified a very difficult piece of his work and made it your own, bringing in the different motifs and your knowledge of Native American Indian culture. It personalises this whole piece for you which we can all appreciate.
ReplyDeleteVery creative. I like how you've couched the shapes and embedded the images. I'm especially pleased that you appreciated the artist.
ReplyDeleteYou certainly have made felting your forte, Venetta. Lovely piece - is it a bird? is it a fish? it has feathers and it flies! Perfectly captured.
ReplyDeleteHa ha ha Thank you for your comments. I learned a new technique called silk fusion that I used on this piece...no felting this time! Would love to teach it to all of you the next time we have a retreat.
DeleteI love this piece, and like Hilary's piece, think your use of the Haida Indian art is inspired. What is silk fusion? I'm not sure I've heard of this before.
ReplyDeleteSilk fusion is fabric made from silk fibers. Silk fusion began in 1989 with Inge Evers from Holland incorporating silk fibers into her wool felt by using wallpaper paste. Since silk fibers do not have protruding scales that cling to each other as in wool roving, the silk fibers are fused using textile medium. The results are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI haven't yet tried this method of making silk paper (the term by which I've known silk fusion), though I have made some using silk that still has some of its natural gum by ironing the fibres together in between two pieces of baking paper.
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