Contemporary Knitting and Crochet

I am currently teaching an intensive Fibre Arts four week course as part of NSCAD's Extended Studies program, which offers a wide range of short and long term course, workshops, open studios, certificate programs and online course to adults who wish to learn, improve their skills, and have fun!

In week 3 of the program we are learning knitting and crochet skills, recycling fabric and plastic bags to use as our 'yarn'. We also looked at some artists who have appropriated these skills and created large scale installations.

Crocheted playspace by Toshiko Horiuchi MacAdam

Japanese fibre artist Toshiko Horiuchi MacAdam uses knitting, crochet and knot making techniques for her work. Most popular are her "textile playgrounds” for children with their characteristic brightly-coloured net-like structures made of crocheted and knotted nylon, that are found installed in various locations worldwide.

Orly Genger yellow roped fiber installation

Orly Genger and her unique sculptural installations completely commandeer both indoor and outdoor spaces. Her installations are built entirely out of recycled rock climbing rope: stacking and knotting the fibre to transform large spaces and engage viewers.

Orly Genger gray roped fiber installation

Whilst learning the skills of knitting and crochet my students are sticking with smaller, domestic sized objects, however it is always great to know that these skills can also be applied to large scale outdoor sculptural objects too. 

The Thing Is - MFA Group Exhibition

NSCAD's Master of Fine Arts students are holding their annual group exhibition titled The Thing Is at the Anna Leonowens Gallery, November 17 – 28, 2015, with a public opening reception on Monday November 16 from 5:30 to 7pm.

the thing is invitation designed by Emily and Carly

This year, the group of sixteen MFA students will present work in a range of media from textiles, jewellery, ceramics, sculpture, and painting to photography and digital work. This group comprises nationalities spanning Australia, China, Estonia, Japan, and Canada, including four Nova Scotian artists.

They bring with them a variety of inspirations and ways of working, influenced both by the locality of NSCAD in Halifax and by their mother cultures. Representing a diverse range of themes, which include social engagement and working across disciplines in art and craft, the exhibition 'The Thing is' promises to be one that will engage the senses and the mind.

The Thing Is
Exhibition view looking through the window from Granville Mall

My work in the show continues to explore the concept '222 Grips for a Stone'. I have set parameters within the exploration, limiting my materials to found objects, wire and glass.

Presence of Absence Series

Whilst exploring the materiality of the objects I have also been contemplating themes that continue to surface in my work, including travel and movement, place, loss and regeneration.

Found clay object
shino glaze, wrapped with copper wire and steel handle
#36 of 222 Grips for a Stone 

The clay object (found in the clay recycling room) represents a sped up version of the natural geological occurrences in nature. It contains a sense of place, and is energised by fire and sensitised by touch.

Found clay object,
wrapped with steel wire, melted copper and glass
#37 of 222 Grips for a Stone

 Human occupation is a layering process on the landscape. The wire alludes to the impact of white settlement: roads, mapping and fences. At the same time it is reminiscent of women work, knitting and embroidery which uses line to create their own surfaces.

"The thread, or line transforms into traces, and surfaces are brought into being. At the same time the transformation of traces into threads also dissolves the surface" ~ Tim Ingold

Wire protects the stone, inhabiting the liminal space at the boundary of the object. It holds the stone together, but at the same time things are slipping through its grasp.

Found clay, railroad spike, glaze, steel wire
#38 of 222 Grips for a Stone

Glass has a materiality that under heat, or through time it will liquify which enables it to slip through the grasp of the wire. But at the same time it begins to also grasp the wire. Which embodies a continuous state of being.

Found clay object
nail and chain
#39 of 222 Grips for a Stone

The found objects have material, political and cultural resonances. 

The Presence of Absence, aligns with an extensive tradition of assemblage art that continues through to the work of Louise Bourgeois.

“To Bourgeois, assemblage is an act of ‘restoring…and rebuilding…it is a coming to terms with things…a work of love’ (it is a) a peaceful existence, not like carving, which she sees as an ‘attack on things' (Bernadac & Obrist 1998p.142-143)”

For more information on the exhibition, visit the NSCAD MFA blog. 

End of Semester Summary

My first semester in the MFA program for studio was with Professor Gary Markle. Gary is the Head of the Fashion studio at NSCAD and he has extensive experience working in New York in fashion, film and sculpture. He was the ideal professor to work with given my interdisciplinary nature and desire to explore ideas across a range of materials.

Lichen was the launching point for a series of investigations and I represented shapes found within the lichen using paper, the lids of tins and enamel (a whole blog post was written about the enamel necklace here). The pieces also continue to reference my interest in pioneers and the isolation they experienced.

Continuing to explore my interest in women's domestic objects I made some thimbles and experimented combining porcelain with crochet and gold lustre.

Continuing to play with domestic kitchenware I was interested to see what happened when you filled the void with rocks, thinking about sense of place and your ties or attachments to a geographic location. 

Living in Canada enables me to objectively look at my Australian history and heritage. I am interested in how our ties to the past inform our present and I am exploring this through the imagery of cameos, chain and branches.

This final piece is still in the middle of being created. Originally a porcelain tea cup, it has been broken and pieced back together. All attached by a silver chain. Here I am interested in the notions of sentimentality and how we place such importance on fragile objects. 

All these ideas seem quite disparate at the moment although I am hoping to distill their essence in my next semester next year. Its going to be quite the journey! 

Coptic Binding

Something I have wanted to try for quite some time was to make a book using the coptic binding stitch technique. I have wanted to learn this technique since I saw it at the Tasmanian Art Fair in 2010. The Third Door had some beautiful examples of coptic binding and I was entranced by how they lent themselves to draping and that the opened flat which is perfect for a sketch book.

Coptic binding

Coptic binding was used by early Christians in Egypt and examples can be dated back to the 2nd century AD. It is a method of joining sections of parchment, papyrus or paper using chain stitch linking across the spine.

I had some spare time recently so I decided to teach myself the technique. Using some fabric scraps, I created a cover that alluded to what the content of the book will be (this will come at a later stage).

Fabric embroidered cover

 For those who have been following my blog you will recognise Kochira the Cat Kelly (in the style of  Australian artist Sidney Nolan's Ned Kelly, the famous Australian bush ranger) who features in my animation, The Drive.

The decorative binding

I really enjoyed making the book, and plan to make a few more when I have some more spare time.

If you would also like to give this a try I found the following sites very helpful:
- Coptic binding directions illustrated by pictures 
- Coptic binding tutorial on Youtube. 11 mins long.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Creative New Year

This year I decided to make my 2012 Christmas cards using recycled plastic bags, bits of card and ribbon collected from previous projects.

After last year where I sent most of my Christmas cards after Christmas (whoops! Its the thought that counts)  I promised myself that this year they would all be in the post before Christmas. Most of them were posted a week or two before the big day, although I must admit some of them were posted Christmas eve - just slipping in before my self imposed deadline :)

I was inspired by Attic24's crochet snowflake pattern, and the fun thing is the snowflake on the card also can be re-used as a Christmas tree ornament. If you are interested in making things from recycled plastic, a great tutorial on how to make plastic yarn can be found here.

Thank you for all your wonderful comments and support in 2012.
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Creative New Year!

Kx

Sydney Biennale highlights

Whilst I was in Sydney for my latest exhibition Daily Rituals, I was lucky enough to squeeze in some time for the Sydney Biennale.

Some of the highlights were Yuken Teruya's Notice - Forest series at the NSW Art Gallery, a collection of paper bags which had tree silhouettes cut into them. The bags were displayed lying down, encouraging the viewer to look inside and see a three dimensional paper tree.

View looking inside a paper bag

Looking down onto a Chanel paper bag

Installation of the artworks - a clever way to engage the viewer

I was also impressed by Lee Mingwei's installation at the Museum of Contemporary Arts. Thousands of colourful cotton reels were attached to the gallery walls. A thread from each reel was attached to the clothing piled on the table. 

Lee's participatory installations, explore issues of trust, intimacy and self-awareness as the artist invites the viewer to engage with his work on a one-to-one basis. 

Lee Mingwei says "In The Mending Project, my interactive conceptual installation, I use very simple elements – thread, color, sewing – as points of departure for gaining insights into the relationships among self, other and immediate surroundings. It also constitutes an act of sharing between a stranger and myself. Visitors initially see a long table, two chairs and a wall of colorful cone-shaped spools of thread. During gallery hours, I am seated at that table, to which visitors can bring various damaged textile articles, choose the color of thread they wish, and watch as I mend the article. The mended article, with thread ends still attached, is then placed on the table along with previously mended items. Owners are asked to return to the gallery to collect their mended articles on the last day of the exhibition. The act of mending takes on emotional value as well, depending on how personal the damaged item is – a favourite shirt versus an old but little-used tablecloth."

Along with NSWAG and the MCA, the Biennale is also staged at Cockatoo Island, Pier 2/3 and the Carriage Works and runs until 16 September 2012.

Time to get organised

I dont know about you,  but I seem to have lots of unfinished projects floating around in the craft courner in the lounge room. As I look around I can see many things in a half finished state: recycled plastic bags crocheted into baskets, knitted twine objects for ceramic experiments (another post will be dedicated to this) two lots of wool waiting to be unravelled and knitted into another project.

Baskets made from recycled plastic bags

All these half finished projects are lying around as a visual reminder to finish them. Im getting sick of the clutter so I have decided that rather than work on them all at once, I will finish one and then move onto the next with the hope of cleaning up the craft corner.... or at least getting it under control!

Knitted twine objects

So Im currently working on a pink brown wool that has been knitted about four times because I havent found the right pattern for the wool. Its gorgeous but because its varigated, knits up with ugly 'tiger stripes'. I have finally found the perfect pattern, which I am kinda making up as I go along (with the aid of some of Mum's fabulous 1980's knitting patterns as reference). 

Its garter stitch and I have introduced a dark brown solid colour which lessens the varigated stripe effect. Knitted on the round the yoke shows of the variation of the colour without being too much.

Unravelling 

Theres also an ever growing pile of books to read, and magazines for inspiration which contains things like Vogue Living, Craft International (fabulous mag from the UK), ceramic books – mostly about glazes at the moment, and for art theory I've been meaning to read the complete works of Oscar Wilde and Le Morte D'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory and Dante's Devine Comedy...

Thank goodness for these long dark winter evenings – they're perfect for sitting in front of the gas fire and reading or knitting, under the pretext of getting organised x

Enlightened Fabrics

A couple of months ago I teamed up with the very clever Jane from Honi and Lemon who transformed my screen printed fabrics into lampshades. Jane breathes new life into lampshades, recycling the frames of old shades and the lamp bases are upcycled too!

This shade with the Lake Burley Griffin scene has made its way to Shop Handmade in Canberra.

Each shade is bespoke, one of a kind and perfect for adding a touch of individuality within a room......

Nets Exhibition at Barometer Gallery

I was lucky enough to have my work Necklace (below) selected to be part of a group textile exhibition which has been shown as part of the VI International Biennial Contemporary Textile Art in Oaxaca in Mexico earlier this year.

Necklace is knitted from recycled plastic bags and then heat is applied to make the fabric rigid. More details can be found in an earlier post on my blog. Click here to go to the post.

The exhibition has travelled back to Australia and was on show at the Barometer Gallery in Sydney in early August 2011. Artists involved in the show are: Catherine Dabron, Wendy Dodd, Gabriella Hegyes, Paula Hilyard, Barbara Jackson, Liz Jeneid, Lynne Johnson, Valerie Kirk, Jenny Manning, Maryanne Mussared, Marli Popple, Nancy Tingey, Monique Van Nieuwland and Katherine White.

Images of the Barometer exhibition are courtesy of Valerie Kirk.

Creative Uses for Tea Towels

A friend of mine bought one of my Knit print tea towels at the June Handmade Markets with the intention of using it as upholstery fabric. She has just sent me some 'before' and 'after' images of her ottoman:

Before (above)

After (above)

She says "This little ottoman has got a new life now and all because of your beautiful screen printed fabric!! I think it looks wonderful with your nice stitches pattern on it. Thank you very much Kate!"

Other people have told me that they buy my screen printed tea towels and frame them, and others have bought the tea towels with the intention of turning them into cushion covers.

I think they are all such fabulous ideas - and it's lovely to see my designs inspiring creativity in others x

Environment Inspired Art - Article

Ive just managed to get a copy of this article which was published a couple of weeks ago in the Canberra Northside Chronicle - it discusses my inspiration for my work 'Modern Tree (Hope)' which was created for the Footprints Exhibition.

Click on the image to see a larger version of the article.

Enjoy!