Monthly Archives: June 2012

New Work for BAM

I’m working on a wall installation for the Forum at the Bellevue Arts Museum. It will be installed sometime in September or October and will coincide with the Fiber Biennial at the Museum. The following is the text from my initial proposal, above is my revised drawing, and below is a shot of the drawings at full size. The working title is Venus Fan, although I’m pretty sure I’m going to change that.

Venus Fan Proposal

I recently returned from a trip to Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, where my family enjoyed amazing snorkeling just steps from our condo. The beginning of our stay was calm with blue skies and clear water, and we snorkeled through an underwater garden of corals and sea fans. Toward the end of our trip a storm blew in, strong winds lashing our windows and keeping me up with thoughts of hurricanes. The storm churned up the water and reduced visibility. Snorkeling in these choppy waters I saw these same sea fans, called Venus Fans, undulating dramatically with the waves. These fragile structures were much more flexible than I had imagined and stronger than they appeared. Later I found a sea fan washed up on the sand. What had been swaying under the water had hardened, its delicate tracery of branching pattern brittle outside its natural environment.

Like all corals, sea fans are made up of tiny polyps that form colonies, one building upon another to create forms over time. Their ecosystems are fragile and are threatened by factors including climate change, ocean acidification, and agricultural runoff. We observe their beauty by becoming the alien in their world, floating above with snorkel and mask or diving deep while carrying our oxygen on our backs.

My proposal for the Forum at BAM is inspired by the Venus Fan. I will abstract the branching patterns, delicate tracery and graceful movement into a wall installation of seven sculptural forms. Using multiple surface design techniques I will create visual texture on rich fabrics including silks, velvets, rayons, and cottons. Reds, red-violets, and splashes of orange will reference the colors of the sea fan. Stitch will be used as both a structural element and for embellishment on the sculptural forms.

A Blessing

Last Saturday was the opening for Heaven and Earth IV: Rootbound at Carkeek Park. It was also our first scheduled date for performance at the Orchard Room. And it was one of the coldest, wettest June days we’ve ever had here in this cold and wet part of the country. All of the musicians we could reach cancelled Friday night because of the weather forecast.

Saturday morning the clouds started to lift. We even saw some blue sky. So Lara and I packed up a pop up tent, chairs, rugs, hot tea, and everything we would need, just in case. It started raining on my way to the park. By the time I arrived it was coming down hard. As I loaded in it started coming down harder. Lara got a couple of calls from musicians. The singers really wanted to be there but those coming on buses couldn’t get through because of the Rock and Roll Marathon. It just wasn’t meant to be.

Sigh.

Still, Regina showed up to see the installation and Joan showed up to talk about the orchard. We hung out, talking, laughing, being outside in the rain. The weather began to lighten up and a few friends came by in their rain gear. Some people came by with maps of the installations, exploring the art in the park. I love our people. If we didn’t go out in the rain we’d never go out at all.

Regina and Joan

Lara in her fabulous rain hat and cowboy coat

By four o’clock the sky was clearing and who should come walking down the path but Paul Cheoketen Wagner, the native storyteller and musician who had been scheduled to open the space. As the sun came out he sang, played his flute and told a story. It felt as though the Orchard Room was thrice blessed, baptized by the rain, blessed by Paul’s music, and witnessed by our community.

It was a perfect day.

Paul Cheoketen Wagner

blue sky!

The Orchard Room

Artist Statement

As simple as a child’s game of cats cradle, colorful silk ribbons are tied between the trees of an historic apple orchard. They vibrate with the breeze, making the wind visible and giving the illusion of a breathing organism. It is a living sculpture, animated by the wind and imbued with the energy of the living trees.

Physically connecting the trees to each other by using strips of fabric makes the relationships between them visible. The weaving of the fabric between the trees suggests a nest, a basket, a spider web, a net, a kiva, our nervous system. It defines inside and outside. It creates a room, ephemeral and permeable to wind and weather, with an earthen floor and the open sky for its roof. Inside that room the space becomes a meeting place, a stage, a container for interactions both planned and spontaneous.

This installation at Pipers Orchard speaks to the deep connection between humans and nature through agriculture. Man manipulates nature, cultivating the plants that provide food and weeding away those that don’t. We prune, weed, and nurture these trees so they will provide us with nourishment.

Over the duration of the installation it will change respond to nature. The colors of the fabric will fade and the silks will stretch and sag. These changes mimic the changes of the seasons from Spring to Autumn. The trees blossom, are pollinated, and fruit. Leaves bud, absorb the Summer sun, fade, and fall. We, too, change and age through the seasons of our lives. All these life cycles are bound together, much like the trees are bound together by a ribbon of silk.

The beauty of this installation lies in its simplicity. Silk, trees, time, and intention create a container for performance, interaction, and contemplation of the passage of time and our connections to the Earth.

Installation Day at Piper’s Orchard

I spent the longest day of the year in glorious sunshine at the historic Piper’s Orchard at Carkeek Park. I installed my outdoor sculpture piece, The Orchard Room, with the help of ten amazing volunteers. I am always gratified by the willingness and energy that people bring to help me out with these crazy projects.

Each person brought his or her own special skill set. Jill was amazing at moving the ribbons of silk under and over tree branches. Vida, my fearless, tree-climbing daughter, spent so much time at the top of a very high tree that we sent up water and snacks to her. Sky showed the tireless energy of the Iowa farm boy that he is. Leah, Ellen, Jerry, and Lance each provided both a critical eye and the willingness to do what I told them. Corey and Katie brought us dinner and reinforcements as we were fading at the end of the day. Lara, my collaborator and co-curator, brought her unique perspective to keep me on track. What a crew!

Here are photos of the installation.

We begin to weave our orange web

a view from the trees.

a little to the left

my little bird

Leah

a view of the sky

taking shape

a view of the Sky

a view into the finished installation through the "arch"

the walls

collaborator, curator, and coconspirator Lara McIntosh

Lara and I inside the room

the end of a long, long day

Yardage into Ribbon

Today I started turning the dyed silk yardage into ribbon for the Carkeek Park Orchard Room. I’ve been getting lots of help from my intern, Vivian. Here’s Vivian ironing the dyed silk.

Next we snip it at one-and-a-half inch intervals and tear it into 9 foot long ribbons. Removing the stray threads is a bit of a chore.

Winding it onto spindles is a cinch using a drill. I just put a 1/4 dowel into the drill instead of a bit. I wind each piece slowly then tie the next one on until I have a whole three yard piece on each spindle.

Look at those pretty spools!

A Morning in the Park

Today I did a site visit and test installation at Carkeek. I needed to see the site again and visualize how the ribbons will be installed and also take some photos for the printed map.

This is really my first experience creating a public art installation. The newest wrinkle is that the Parks Dept. is worried about ligature danger from my installation. They are worried that young children will go running into the ribbons and choke. Um, did I mention the ribbons are bright orange and that there will be 20 to 30 of them stretched across the span between the trees? I really think the kids will see them.

But of course, I need to work with them to allay their fears. It’s actually amazing and a big leap on their part to allow these art installations to happen at all. Part of my compromise is to install the ribbons more as a canopy than as wall in the orchard. Revisiting the site I’m not sure how well that’s going to work. My plan is to install all the lower ribbons so that they can be taken down easily if needed. That way it will be fully realized for the opening and if I have to take part of it later, so be it. I think once they see the installation they will realize ligature really isn’t an issue.

It was a lovely morning to be at the park. The grounds keeper was weed whacking the path and the air was damp and vegetal. It was good to be there and working.

Heaven and Earth: Rootbound

original sketch for the Orchard Room

It’s been over two weeks since my last post. Last week I spent on Orcas Island with 100 8th graders at Camp Orkila. I spent my time congratulating, consoling, coercing, and chaperoning a bunch of great kids. I also did some tie-dye with the kids and got in a good beach walk (photos to come).

My time before and since then has been working on the installation I’m doing for CoCA’s Heaven and Earth: Rootbound at Carkeek Park. I’ll be creating a “room” in an historic apple orchard by tying silk ribbon in and around trees. The Orchard Room will not only be a stand alone art piece, but also a performance space with performances scheduled throughout the four month installation. I’m working with Lara McIntosh, a dancer and teacher, as co-curator for the space. I’ve been taking class with Lara for almost 20 years and we have collaborated on several projects for the Fremont Arts Council. Lara will also be choreographing a site specific piece for the Orchard Room. She brings a wealth of knowledge and contacts within the music and dance worlds of Seattle to the project.

There has been a lot of coordination with the Parks Dept. and with the Piper’s Creek Orchard Volunteers to get the project approved. I have really appreciated David Francis at CoCA and his willingness to go to bat for this project. I think it’s going to be wonderful once we get past all the obstacles. I won’t go into all the details but, for now, we have a site and a plan for installation.

Today I dyed 42 yards of silk to turn into ribbon for the Orchard Room with my new intern, Vivian. I’m going to have two interns from the UW Fibers Dept. this Summer! Both Vivian and Mia have graduated and are doing the internships for experience rather than credit. I’m very happy to have the help. Today’s dyeing took about a third of the time it would have taken me by myself.

sample ribbon for the Orchard Room

today's dyeing