This piece is about the journey through life one layer after another. We begin with a watery unconsciousness and immediately start building. We are babies, then children, adolescents then young adults. We fervently divide the many parts of our lives into neat boxes we think we can control. We have work life, home life, love life, parenting life, student life, and seemingly an infinite number more lives all cluttering the space around our true nature…until we let go of the illusion and allow ourselves to grow again. In the end, we return return to the watery depths of unconsciousness in Death, when our spirit lets go completely, evaporating into the Heavens.
- Materials: Hand-dyed cotton, cotton-polyester thread.
- Series: NA
- Size: 15 inches x 30 inches (38 cm x 76 cm)
- Completed: 2022
- Current location: Available for Sale, $150
- History: New Zone Gallery, Zone 4 All show, October 2022
My Thoughts on the Work
This piece was built using two of my January 2022 Starts. I was interested in exploring horizon through line. As I worked the piece evolved into a story narrative of sorts. I like how the layers of blue on the top and bottom frame the whole piece, giving it a beginning and an ending.
I also like how the section in the lower third with the squares of color breaks up the flow from top to bottom. I’ve noticed that the time in our lives when we move from late adolescence into adulthood where we spend a ton of time exploring our identity is like a resting point in our lives even though it feels chaotic and busy. I loved how the blocks of that layer expresses that kind of energy. It’s disruptive and makes a strong contrast between the layers above and foundational layers below. The center purple field is from one of my hand-dyed pieces. It’s the only hand-dyed fabric in the piece. That piece is like the authentic core self we work so hard to find and to protect through that part of our lives.
