In the summer of 2020, in the midst of the pandemic hangover after the first strict confinement, I received a letter from Art Aviso in the mail. Included with their note, there was an A-4 piece of linen that had been cut from a preloved, used, or vintage tablecloth.
I was invited to create an artwork within the size of the fabric and leave enough space/margin so that they could sew or attach my artwork to another piece of fabric for a future exhibition (to be held whenever possible after the pandemic)*.
HERE'S THE CURATORIAL TEXT OF SUCH AN UNCONVENTIONAL COLLABORATIVE PROJECT:
"Before it finds its way into personal possession, linen’s value emerges from being laborious to manufacture, a process, which makes its natural fibres forever strong and absorbent. Following this birth, its ongoing presence is linked to the home: reminiscent of a mother’s linen cupboard, a grandmother’s linen chest, time and time again, lining the family’s beds, bathrooms, tables and windows.
Passed down through generations, the durable material traverses and embodies the memory of familial experience and emotion. Grief, trauma, loss, but also resilience, regrowth and triumph are profoundly personal, whilst communal in the universality of human experience.
(Words by Tahney Fosdike)
Art Aviso Artists worldwide were provided with an A4-sized piece of linen/cotton fabric reclaimed from vintage tablecloths and remnants. The linen was to be used as the foundation for an artwork that is an expression of the challenges, loss and grief we currently face in our everyday lives and also the triumphs, large and small that we create and experience along the way. Completed artworks will be joined together to create an installation artwork – A communal expression of the current state of the world in which we live.
Art Aviso, will work with Amsterdam based Curator Roza Schenk to bring this exhibition to Amsterdam and images of completed artworks will also be exhibited online in a virtual exhibition."
(Words by Art Aviso)
AND HERE'S THE STATEMENT OF THE ARTWORK I CONTRIBUTED WITH:
"My contribution to The Garden of Loss and Triumph addresses the distresses, restrictions, and tribulations felt during the COVID-19 global pandemic, but also the moments of joy and exhilaration that were present during that time.
'FINE PATHS I' is a machine-sewn textile piece featuring predominantly black threads which speak of the grief, loss, and constraints experienced during this collectively transformative phase, with a couple of occasional - sometimes barely perceptible - inserts of golden, silver, and yellow neon threads, which represent the moments of triumph, delight, elation and newness that can be enmeshed within difficult times.
Even though these exultant occurrences may be scarce, these can be felt even more intensely in contrast with hardship, especially if testing times are extended through time, which has been the case regarding this global pandemic we're only now starting to leave behind, more than two years later."
*The piece was finally exhibited in a group exhibition with other Art Aviso artists in September 2022 at NSDM Fuse Gallery in Amsterdam
