To touch base between hospital appointments I went to APT-Gallery to see This ‘Me’ of Mine as soon as I was – temporarily at least – upright again, hoping I’d have enough steps in me. I absolutely needed to get out, at least for a little while, see something, think something different. Jane Boyer, who curated the exhibition and invigilated that day found four chairs and placed them strategically throughout the space – my glorious vantage points. Thank you, Jane!
With this M.E. of mine I have to scrupulously calibrate my thimble-full of energies. Each and every day. I’ve described some of the physical consequences of those rare ‘outings’. One after-effect, when I’ve stretched my limits too far, is that I don’t remember much of what I’ve experienced. Short-term memory is one of M.E.’s many cognitive calamities which grieve me more than the physical effects, incl. pain. To counter-act I set out to write notes about each piece. Fingers lost faculty before I’d finished my round but I’ve got a few almost legible scribbles to go back to.
I like concept-driven exhibitions. This one is touring, so go see when it’s near you, or check out the fine website if you can’t. What stayed with me, even through the floundering faltering fatigue-clad days that followed, was Annabel Dover‘s Iris’ Stocking, a piece where process and subject beautifully, memorably join force. Can’t stop thinking/feeling about it. The story behind the piece illuminates and gives foundation to what is in the work – its mournful air, the sense of pain and loss, the image of the stocking floating ghost-like against the blue background, its ‘presence’ seemingly on a threshold between emerging and receding. I looked up cyanotype on wikipedia and found something that makes the choice of medium even more interesting: ‘… prints that have faded due to prolonged exposure to light can often be significantly restored to their original tone by simply temporarily storing them in a dark environment.’– the processes of remembering emphasized, questioned, undermined.
Encountering Iris’ Stocking has helped me restore tentative links to and enthusiasm for my own work, not least because memory handed down over generations, explicitly/tacitly, is what I’ve been thinking about these last few months and forms the basis of my G4A-application which should go out to the Arts Council soon.
Finished a month ago:
Urn (2012/13)
Dimensions: 20 cm x 30 cm
Materials: crocheted from JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk
PS. My application for membership with Contemporary Applied Arts was rejected.
PPS. The little hairy thing I re-discovered the other week is growing incrementally – crocheting with strands made up of three hairs is slow work. But I think it’ll be worth it.
PPS. Have a ook at artist Liz Crow‘s thoughtful instructive courageous Bedding In Bedding Out
