Wednesday 1 August 2018

Spirals Everywhere!

When I saw Spiral was our next challenge a feeling of delight was my first reaction.  The possibilities if not endless are many and I had lots of ideas.  I struggled settling on which of two to make.  My first idea was a throw quilt size that could be functional as well as a themed art project - yes I know there is a debate on functional items not being art but I was going to ignore that and make a quilt with text in a spiral. Trouble is I didn't know what I wanted to say or what colour palette to use. 

I had the idea of a Celtic tri-spiral and ended up choosing the first lines from my favourite books to make the spiral.  Design ready, I paused and thought this is quite personal, what does it say to the world to make it an art piece, rather than a nice quilt for Ruth to snuggle under? 

Around the same time this year I was invited to make a piece for the Irish Quilters showcase with the theme of Culture.  Working on two projects at the same time they seemed to meld a bit in my mind.  I thought of a double spiral of text with local sayings and slang and all the ways we have to describe the rain in Ireland.  But as I was doodling and sketching spirals the Yeat's poem "The Second Coming", and the line 'things fall apart, the centre cannot hold' got stuck in my head.


I thought about the rise of the right in politics, the ugly glee some people took in labelling people snowflakes, while at the same time angry about being labelled themselves and I thought self righteousness is really ugly - both left and right.  I was reminded of a TED talk by Jonathon Haidt where he looked at the traits of conservatives and liberals and I took away a few things from that talk.  All human beings care about being Fair, about doing no Harm and Caring for each other.  Liberals place a lot of value on Fairness and Equality.  Conservatives care about these things too but also care about Community, Authority and Purity.  Some Conservatives care about what you do with your body and some Liberals care very much about what you put in your body or on your body.  When you see passion at both extremes and name calling and violence you wonder how important is the centre?
Are we perfectly balanced or is it like Yeats poem the centre cannot hold?  I haven't answered this question in the making of the quilt but feel like exploring it in textiles, shape and colour has been a worthwhile thought experience for me and it turns out I do have something to say.  I called it "Snowflake, who me?" and entered it to the exhibition curated by Paula Rafferty and Nikki Foley.

13 comments:

  1. It is beautiful, and I love all the thought that went into its making!

    One of the topics that I came across in my spiral research was in a book on illustrated maps -- the author said that designers know how spirals attract viewers' attention, and they often use them as composition features, but not in an obvious way. If you look, you can find the spiral, but you would only notice it subconsciously. Your composition reminded me of that idea.

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    1. Thanks! I guess you could call it a broken spiral. Sounds like a lot of fun reading about spirals and I love that it took you to maps!

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  2. This is a very exciting and dynamic composition - another way of looking at spirals altogether!

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    1. Thanks a million Catherine. Spiral was a great choice for this challenge.

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  3. What a great take on the theme Ruth. Thanks for sharing all of the thought that went in to it too.

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    1. Thanks a million Fiona, you'd never tell from looking at it but I hope the quilted text in the background would make people wonder about it though.

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  4. It is so amazing how many possible ways one word can lead a person's thoughts. I really like your composition. I focuses on that and didn't see the words until you mentioned it later in your post! Very nice.

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    1. Thanks so much Nancy! Not a very obvious message but it was fun in the making.

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  5. I love the bold colours and dynamic design of this quilt, I wish I could it see it closer up to read the quilted text. I also like it's contemporary relevance and the way you've used your quilt to reflect on current issues. Great work :D

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    1. It's so hard to avoid the news these days - I feel like I'm surrounded by politics and outraged responses at every turn. I guess it had to make its way into a quilt at some stage. Spiral just seemed to be so versatile to caputre all sorts of things!

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  6. I love the color combination and symantic's of the quilt. I stay away from speaking on politics. I do like the thoughts so many of these projects have brought forward.

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  7. I found myself really thinking about the commentary you shared here. I had to go look to see where you lived. I love this final piece and the thought and skill you have in making it. I LOVE that the quilting is actually words you accumulated in the creative process. It's a wonderful piece.

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  8. A thought provoking piece, Ruth!
    I didn’t see the words in the quilting until I read your response to Fiona and clicked on the photos. I must remember to click on everyone’s pictures in case I miss any other gems.
    I love the colours and your construction.
    I wanted to make something more functional too, but managed to stop myself in time!
    Barbara x

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