The Knot, watercolor sketch for the fiber art installation
Proposal for BAC
#1 The Knot
"Knot" is a site-specific fiber art installation for BAC focusing on emotional healing in the time of hate crime crisis, racial division, and distrust infecting many parts of our community.
Ropes came to mind as a symbol of connection, perhaps because I grew up seeing Shimenawa (sacred ropes) in Japan. Ropes are ancient, multi-functional tools that belong to every culture.
Ropes are woven with two opposing forces repeated to create strength. The process became meditative, like a prayer for a divided world to come together again. I plan to weave in fabrics from different cultures and times of our lives.
Size:
approximately 7-9 feet wide.
(flexible to the assigned space)
Weight:
TBA, less than 50 lb.
Material:
Donated everyday fabrics, vintage fabrics, fabric from all over the world. Acrylic fillings, aluminum wires, clear hanging wires.
Hanging method:
This soft sculpture will be hanging from multiple points of clear wires from the hanging rail. Or this can be installed in the middle of a gallery space.
Example of similar projects
Artist statement for rope series
In an emotional reaction to the rise of hate crimes and racial tensions, I started an installation series representative of human connections.
Ropes came to mind as a symbol of connection, probably because I grew up seeing Shimenawa (sacred ropes) in Japan. I was attracted to their universality and ancient history that goes back to 28,000 years. Recently I learned that my grandmother's family ran a rope manufacturer until the war. I'm feeling a strange affinity for rope-making.
Starting this series, I ordered some cotton ropes but they were expensive and lifeless. So I taught myself to make them with old clothes. A bag full of handmade ropes together looked alive like an organic creature.
Even as I knew that my making ropes would not save the world, and I had no idea how I would present them as art, I could not stop making them. To weave a rope, you twist one thread outwards as you bring the other side inward. Two opposing forces repeat to create strength. The process became meditative, like a prayer for a divided world to come together again.
Earlier pieces were more like woven sculptures with smaller ropes. This year, I stepped back to focus on the rope itself rather than making something with it. I'm weaving more details directly into the rope by patch-working different fabrics and patterns from all over the world, further increasing our sense of inter-connectedness. I'm choosing to present their natural forms, such as tangling, looping, tying, or hanging.