Started stitching the 3rd artwork in the “Land Wrap” series with antique textiles. I find my textile pieces are just like creating my big abstract paintings except, I’m using cloth & stitch instead of oil paint and pigment stick. A bit slower than the swish of a big paint brush or rag but worked in the same way. Antique textiles 200 years old, ink, gesso, rust, found objects and wax linen threads
I’m not sure, if I’m finished with concrete & textiles, I was using a few years ago.. I’m thinking of very fragile wafers of concrete, sewn into, like sutures closing a wound, enhancing and protecting scars on delicate skin. Maybe it’s time to play some more…
After exhibition blues has hit! I’m all painted out at the moment, but still enjoying some textile pieces Ive been playing around with for a while now. Looks like some old photos and found objects will make their way into the project too. Please see “Spaces Below” exhibition details in the sidebar on the right.
Ragged bits , old and new stitching, tracing the marks left behind on, 120 yr old textiles.
Memories and ghosts from the 1800s, remind me, as I work, of a time when women had many obligations and few choices.
A time when, women were completely controlled by their fathers, brothers and male relatives and their sole purpose in life was to find a husband, reproduce and then spend the rest of their lives serving him.
If you were to break free, you would be crucified, ridiculed and seen as “not normal, insane, bullied and tossed aside.
The textiles from the 120 year old quilt toppers I work with, sometimes, seem to yell at me, but mostly, they lay silent, as I make my own marks alongside others gone before.
I feel comfortable, as I stitch, tear, dye and reinforce the fragmented pieces.
Somehow, I hope, in a small way, by reclaiming and reworking the textiles, I can give a voice to those women.
Just like in my own life, when I was powerless, art gave me a voice to express myself, where once I had none.
The process of transformation. Time, change, erosion and decay are qualities I like to celebrate. I examine and explore, the properties and possibilities, of my material and want to push the boundaries of something to get a deeper understanding.
In my latest project, I’m working with textiles over a 100 years old. I want to work with the worn and deteriorated textiles and collaborate alongside those, who in the past, so carefully stitched, mended and created, the pieces for comfort and warmth.
Each piece was once, carefully hand -stitched and now, breaking down and worn. I have very selectivity pulled apart and unpicked areas, and kept some intact.
Some areas of fabric, are so badly worn it breaks in my hands, so I have to reinforce it. Most pieces though are just left in their original state.
I then, like to push the process further with, natural & rust dying methods, mark making, hand stitching and painting with caste iron, botanical paints.
Numerous times, I expose the materials to the elements to experience the changes.
Getting to the essence of my material helps me to translate and describe its being. I rarely know the outcome of my projects and just go with the flow.
Wanting to know how to rust – dye? Please see my free rust – dyeing tutorial
Wallmatter Exhibition Photos – Jenny Davis – 2016
A huge thank you to everybody who attended the opening of my new exhibition Wallmatter last Saturday. A special thank you to all the people who helped me pull it altogether and make it a special day. I feel so blessed and encouraged with all the support shown for my artwork and the new friendships I made.
Wallmatter continues until Tuesday August 16th at The Memo, Healesville Victoria. Free Entry. All artworks are for sale.
A few photos I took the next day as I forgot my camera on opening night.
An installation of paint, concrete, rust and
textiles, inspired by imperfections and
weathered surfaces, linking to the abandoned
and neglected spaces found in urban and rural
environments.
“Surfaces and objects touched by time tell a
story and are a raw reflection of their environment.
I want to highlight the significance of a random
mark, or the crumbling texture of a wall in an
underground space. They are evidence to a
previous time in history. My abstractions are
investigations into marks and traces left behind
in the urban and rural environment.”
– Jenny Davis, Artist
Experiments with Concrete Cloth and Rust. Sculpture.
Just a quick update about what Ive been doing lately.
Work for my exhibition was almost finished, until, I discovered a bunch of rusted textiles Id forgotten about. Now, I want to make more sculpture. A solid form with thin wafers of cloth, concrete and rust.
Today, I’m heading into the studio to work out how to achieve this. Wet concrete is very formless so pouring, layer, upon layer of cloth then, concrete, in a mold, just wouldn’t work. The cloth would get covered with concrete on the outer edges and I want slices of cloth sticking out and visible on the outside.
Funny thing is, when I Googled it, all I came up with was my own experiments and work with concrete, cloth and rust.
So, I’m now in the process of inventing how to do this:)
More details about my “Wallmatter” exhibition coming soon!
Concrete. Rust. Textile. Sculpture. Work in the Studio.
Experiments with concrete, rust and textiles in developing sculpture.
Junk packaging for mold making
Taped up packaging filled with concrete, rust and cloth.
Poured wet concrete sculpture
A series of 3D objects in the making
The first raw reveal after 24 hours. At this stage, I need to make my final decisions and changes to this sculpture, while the concrete is still soft enough to work with. I discovered in some of my earlier experiments, once its rock hard, its more difficult to work with.
I am still working on this series of sculptures using concrete, rust and textiles that will be part of my “Wallmatter” exhibition.
I’m not sure where I’ve heard this, but fully believe in this saying,
“Just turn up and the work will show itself”
Today, I headed to the studio and let go of all the pressure, I had been putting on myself for weeks, about starting new work for my next exhibition.
I sat for awhile without any expectations, trying to connect to something.
I then started playing around with materials, I hadn’t used since art school
and after finding some leftover weathered metal from my welding days
my ideas eventually came together.
By just letting go and believing in the creative process
I now, have a better idea of where I’m heading with my project
and some of the materials I will be using.
I recently spent a very enjoyable Saturday at Craftschooloz learning the Japanese dyeing technique Shibori. This involves folding, twisting or bunching cloth and binding it, then dyeing it in beautiful indigo.
I wanted to see what effect the indigo dye would have on some of my previously rust dyed, lace and doily’s
So, I clamped several wooden shapes over the areas where I didn’t want the indigo dye to seep in
I was very happy with the result
Old tablecloth, cotton fabrics and string
Some beautiful dyed cloth from other people at the workshop
This vintage tablecloth was clamped with shapes. The cloth had been previously dyed with rust and tea
The Shibori method worked extremely well with all my pieces of vintage French lace, cotton, string and doily’s
I love how indigo has many shades of greys, as well as blue, depending on what stage of fermentation, the dye vat is at
Playing with some ideas…Victorian silk buttons
buckles and rusty bits
tin
and doily’s
Warm Collage – Lafayette Pink
( Please see all my other collages from “30 Days of Collage” at Cottontail Art Design and Vintage)
Thinking of my daughter today, living in Paris France. Last time I was there I experienced my first ever white Xmas. It snowed and snowed. We went to Galleries Lafayette but didn’t buy anything as it just too expensive but I did grab samples, advertising papers and junk for my art.
The colours that Winter were hot pinks with oranges. In this collage I wanted to capture the feeling of extravagance and contemporary Paris.
I painted the background of the canvas board with warm acrylic paint in yellow ochre , next , paper scraps from Galleries Lafayette in gold flourish, then orange and red velvet fabrics, squares of hand painted paper in hot pink, orange piece of French packaging and a little snow flake in hot pink created with a little punch I bought in Asnieres. Topped off with a little perfume bottle cut-out from Lafayette advertising. I also added some gold glitter paint in areas for sparkle.
( Please see all my other collages from “30 Days of Collage” at Cottontail Art Design and Vintage)
POCKET ART SERIES
Small one of a kind transportable patches of Abstraction ready to go…Compact pieces of art for people on the move. My pocket art pieces came about when I needed to transport artwork from country to country. They are small mixed media textile pieces connected to my love of abstraction textiles, text and street art.
Walking my way across the surface I use coloured wools and wires as I would my paintbrush or charcoal, adding, whatever interests me at the time including, advertising papers, cards and packaging from Paris
RUE PIERRE
OOH LA LA
HEARTS IN PARIS
TOURISTS
Each one is a tiny 3.5″x2.5″ – 9x7cm and they come snuggly displayed in a clear acrylic card holder
MATERIALS
Indigo blue denim
canvas cloth
wire
press stud
button
paris clothing label
originalParis stamp
Colored wools
found fonts
Acrylic sealer and more….
SIGNED and DATED by the artist
I really had fun creating these pieces and were created with a lot of care
Lately I’ve been experimenting with natural dyeing processes for fabrics and papers. I’m trying out rust dyeing at the moment. I want to build up a collection of natural and rust dyed fabrics and papers so when my next creative spurt comes around, I’ll have plenty to work with.
Over the years I have collected heaps of metal for welding my sculptures so have plenty bits hiding on my property just rusting away. The gathering of the metal objects, wrapping them with the fabric spraying with vinegar and binding with rope and wire is quite relaxing. I call it mummy wrapping.
It only takes a couple of hours for marks to appear but I like to keep mine for up to a week or two so I can get deeper impressions and colours. I discovered if I wrap fabric around old pieces of copper pipe the amazing green and red patinas are transferred to the fabric as well.
I’m happy with the end result and see connections to the abstract marks I create in my paintings. There are paintings in themselves
