Personal Paradigm Shift

"Why is she taking pictures of piles of grass?  What is she up to now?"  is what I imagine you saying.  Well, let me tell you....

Over the past year, my artistic journey has been taking me down a different path from where I started.  I've become more and more drawn to fiber and textile art.  A huge part of my interest lies in the history of feminine handicraft that I've talked about here before.  I've been a crocheting freak over the past year, hardly ever putting down the hook.

My interest in these traditional handicrafts goes beyond just crochet garlands; I love the idea of using needlecraft in capital A Art. (there is the whole craft vs art conflict that I won't get into again right now), and also just using fibers in general in both 2D and sculptural pieces.

So my artistic focus this year is shifting ever more in that direction.  I have a couple of major projects I will be working on over the year, including the Lake Bonneville Coral Reef and another one that involves more of these guys.  I noticed that it was almost exactly a year ago that I was first struck by this fiber epiphany.

I was watching an Art21 video the other day, and Jeff Koons made a comment that just really resonated with me.  He said:

"The way art comes into the world is a metaphysical process.  If you try to create art it's a decorative process.  You're just wasting time spinning gears until you get so bored with yourself that you just stop the process and say ok what do I really want to do?  What am I interested in?  And you focus on it and pretty soon you are in that metaphysical space."

This was one of those ah-ha moments for me; I could clearly see the truth in his statement as far as my own art was concerned.  I've spent a lot of time contemplating this, journaling about it, and that's when I realized that I really need to focus on the fiber art right now.  And it is hard for me sometimes to focus on one thing.  I am easily distracted, and I think to myself, "well I can't just not paint for a whole year!"  I understand that.  But I also understand that where my painting is concerned, what Koons says is right on.  When I try to create art by painting, I more often than not come up with some cute, decorative thing.  I realize that my inner artist has a split personality.  There is the part that really enjoys and gets satisfaction from creating cute little deer and flowers.  The other part is messier, comes from a more visceral, primal place in myself.  That's the part I need to focus on right now.

So, back to the pile of grass.  I was reading the book Contemporary Knitting for Textile Artists.  There was a section on creating cordage out of other fibers, such as leaves and rags, etc.  I thought about the pile of last years decorative grasses I had just pruned back in the garden that morning, and I just had to try it (the second picture).  My plan is to make a bunch of this cord and then crochet some kelp out of it for the reef.

That's enough of my mental meanderings for today!  Have you had any personal epiphanies or paradigm shifts lately?