Glimmer

This piece is from a series of portraits contemplating singular encounters with birds, focusing on their presence as individuals rather than as mere instances of their species. Resistance to typify and label shifts curiosity from “what” this bird is to who this bird might be, and what we’re doing here, together, right now. New mysteries and marvels may arise, along with a changed sense of connection.

The image is created by surface weaving, an original technique that allows marks unconstrained by the warp-weft directionality of a conventional loom. The process generates myriad broken colour interactions and textures, each a little sculptural vignette of its own. At close viewing range, these micro-abstractions clearly depart from the realism of the overall image. At the same time, together they evoke a felt sense of the real shifting light, complexity, and liveliness one can experience in nature.
Materials
Hand- and commercially- dyed yarns, strings, threads and cut textiles. Primarily silk, wool, and cotton, with other natural and synthetic fibres.
Techniques
Surface weaving.