Shadowscapes
Coiled Baskets 1-4: Diane�s Wooden Bowls, Nate�s Grosgrain Ribbon, linen, silk, copper nails
This series evolved as a continuation of my desire to make use of found and existing materials. Taking a break from family heirloom textiles, I said to a friend that I would like to do a series building coiled baskets onto found objects. In her basement, four nesting wooden bowls called out to me, and I said, �I�ll take those!� The first thing I noticed when hammering in copper nails, was the wonderful shadows created. It was then that I realized these pieces would be about the shadows, just as much, if not more than the object itself. From then on, everything I did had to speak beautifully in shadow as well as in its solid form. The coiled basketry technique lends itself to the creation of negative spaces, which in turn let light pass through creating a world of shadows, always changing with the changing light. The shadows of stray linen and silk threads dance, the nails elongate and lose their uniformity, the grosgrain ribbon used as the core material, twists and emerges as a motif of pointed thorns (which in shadow look much more threatening). Most important is the interplay of the solid and fixed landscape with the constantly changing world of light and shadow.