First solo exhibition

Not sure if it is because I’m getting older, but the weather is getting to me of late. Then again, with climate change the weather is anyway proving to be challenging and getting worse by the year. At our place the winters are getting wetter, not because of more rain (I don’t think, or is it?), but seemingly because of less sun. The soil isn’t drying out like before and our place gets to a slippery muddy mess in winter.

Amongst the hectic-ness that is life, we did manage, with the help of a couple of friends, to pick the olives in our small grove one weekend in June, and press a beautiful extra virgin oil. We are also still trying to keep fit and train for some running events, but again, the weather is challenging (often drizzly, but mostly just terribly windy, cold, or unpleasant).

Both Gerry and I enrolled in Masters degrees in design and art this year. While Gerry’s focus is on photography, I am exploring all the wonderful facets of textiles and fibres. There is so much to learn, and I do enjoy experimenting with stitch, wrapping, joining, unraveling, encaustic, glue, paint, and mod podge. Things are going well so far, and I have a reasonably clear idea theoretically of where I might be going with the work I’m doing. Can’t wait to really get stuck in the practice side of things to see where it might take me. But … (did I mention this before?)

I took the bold step to submit a proposal for a solo exhibition at a community gallery in September which was accepted. This meant that all my waking hours were taken up by working and stressing about the exhibition. Although it might seem a bit ‘arrogant’ to do a solo exhibition as a non-established artist, it was a wonderful learning curve to jump in at the deep end; it gives a sense of urgency, direction, and focus which I might not have had was it not for the exhibition.

Although my original intention for the exhibition was very literal, about consumerism and waste, following the narratives of global warming and too many people on the planet, I decided to alter it slightly to be more in line with the theme for my masters which is about liminality, transformation, borders, boundaries and in-between phases, tricksters and masks (conceal and reveal). Taking into account that we are all on earth between being born and death, our time here is the ultimate liminal phase. Within this, we pass through numerous other liminal phases: puberty, marriage, parenthood, etc. Changing the focus of the exhibition ever so slightly, allowed me to start experimenting more with the direction where I’m hoping my practice will go, and I’m grateful to the gallery for allowing me some flexibility. Ultimately, I still work mainly with recycled fabrics, which are also in a transformative state.

Time flew by, as anticipated. A frantic few weeks led up to the exhibition opening which was on 1 September. All works were ‘finished’ (or abandoned), and the install went smoothly and without any hiccups.

It is now a week after the uninstall, and it still feels unreal that it happened and is now a thing of the past. I am already flat out and in the thick of it working on the exhibition for our Masters on 17 November. Again, with some challenges and process glitches, where things are not always running as smoothly as I hope. But more on this later.

Some photos for the exhibition opening and the work.