“Three of Wands (A phylogeny of my creativity)”
(tea dyed paper weavings, glue, yarn, copper wire, Tulip Poplar tree branch)
46×30″ wall hanging
New Series, New vibes
This project marks what is to be a new series for me that I’m calling In Search of Alchemy. While it looks very similar to Walk Softly and Carry This Stick, I feel like I’m shifting gears a little bit. This is the description for Walk Softly: “This collection is about women making their way in this world. It’s about the softness but also always having to be ready for defense, being creative with the things we are given, and trusting ourselves and learning from our experiences.”
I think there will be some of that in this new series but I’m also thinking a bit more about my creative journey and my own memories and experiences. My word for this year is “alchemy” and I’m exploring some different philosophical space than I did with Walk Softly. I’m looking at Tarot cards and the meanings behind them. Drawing on that old wisdom and tying it together with my work and life experiences.
The weaving of things
I realized during the process of tea dyeing and distressing the weavings that I was making a version of the threadbare fabric I’ve drawn so often over the years. This realization absolutely delighted me! I find that I get a little bit more obsessed with making fabric every time I produce fabric. The notion that I can take string, yarn, or in this case, paper and produce a piece of fabric blows my mind.
About the title
My friend Lali, when she saw the piece, said it made her think of cladograms (she’s a biology professor). I immediately had to ask for the explainer on that. As we were talking, she also brought up the word phylogeny and when I say I was gobsmacked I mean I literally had to sit down and take a few minutes to recover. We debated which word worked better and how to use it exactly. One of the meanings for the Three of Wands card is “allowing your unique character traits to be your guide” so I decided to use phylogeny in the title. So big thanks to Lali for helping me learn new things as well as integrate them here.
The zine
One of the new ways I’m documenting what I make this year is to create a very quick zine about the process. I don’t want this step to get bogged down so this is the quickest and the dirtiest: a sheet of drawing paper turned into a one page zine where I record things that were meaningful to me during the making process. It’s a way to stop and savor what I’ve done and record it like social media doesn’t exist because well it mostly doesn’t for me anymore. Flip through the pages below!
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