I'm still at work on my paper and encaustics. I've given the series the tentative title "Between the Lines". More in progress images soon...
The creases and contours of clothing become a topography of the wearer's experience. While the cut and pattern of a garment often reflects cultural semiotics, the wear and tear on an item reflects the habits and history of the individual who wore it. Like a palm reader the sensitive viewer may find life lines, heart lines and head lines hidden about a discarded T-shirt. Like roads on a map we may follow the fold down a sleeve or pant leg to discern the psychology of crossed legs or folded arms.
The lines in my work are drawn with stitch-work on hand made paper. While some pieces are left in a raw state, others have been used to create encaustic paintings in which the paper becomes transparent or almost vanishes. While the sensitive contours of my work express the idiosyncrasies of the personal, the colours of the encaustic paint, or collage elements like bits of fabric, evoke environments. In the triptych “On the Line” patterns on the fabric escape the boundaries of the items of clothing to merge with the sea side setting. In “Pinstripes” the vertical lines of the text evoke the prison an office can become. A conversation emerges, between the cultural expression and restrictions embodied by clothing, and the details of private worlds.