ARTISTS' AIMS 2009

FORUM AIMS 09 ‘DECONSTRUCT/RECONSTRUCT’

Amanda Northey-Damms
My interpretation of this theme is related to my background in clothing design and manufacture. At this point in working through the concept of deconstruct/reconstruct I plan to experiment with deconstructing a T shirt, decomposing it to some extent then using the resulting cloth to create an image using print and stitch. Through this process a printed image on a T shirt turns from a fashion statement into an art statement. Taking a garment that has come to the end of it’s useful life, and creating an art piece from it is reminiscent of the traditional approach to patchwork through which old clothing was recycled to produce a functional and beautiful quilt.


Jan Blair
My interpretation of this theme currently is to create, using patchwork pieces, a design (either tumbling blocks or solid blocks) and to then reassemble in a different fashion. This will be used in small and medium size pieces, possibly some in frames and possibly some that will be a mirror image using different backgrounds or foreground fabric. Besides this I am going to somehow use a quilt I began in 1973 made of fabrics from my childhood sewing of clothes from family pieces. Hopefully I will also be able to obtain some photographs of the owners wearing them from photos.


Lesley Frew
My work is always inspired by natural or organic shapes. So for the theme deconstruct/ reconstruct I am concentrating on cell forms, looking into the developments through-out their lifecycle, as they form and break down. I construct my material using recycled plastic bags, making something from nothing, just like cells.


Heather Irwin
At this early stage in this year’s forum I feel that I will probably take a literal interpretation of the theme deconstruction/reconstruction. I will probably incorporate natural and non woven fabric in addition to paper and paint.


Jennifer Lemon
Using the linear visuals of maps, satellite urban images and road markings, where areas have been deconstructed, layered and reconstructed again as inspiration for my textile pieces. I am also planning to approach the theme of Deconstruct/Reconstruct not only through the design visual of the textiles themselves but also in how the pieces are presented. Creating quite sculptural works with the idea of building up and taking down blocks creating almost an urban landscape. This work I hope could possibly be both floor installations and wall based.

Frances Sawaya
Fabric is much more interesting when it is cut up and rearranged." This is probably a perfect notion for the theme of deconstruct/reconstruct and is very much in keeping with patchwork and quilting. Several ideas have been floating through my mind: deconstructing/reconstructing the seasons of the year in a series of colourwash quilts with an emphasis on how colour can translate into mood; "SLIVERS" which might be an effort to extend the lines within slivers of aboriginal fabrics into textured surfaces and lines; and "Between Pacific Tides" which will be translations from my photos of the sand tracings from Oceanside, California into dyed or painted fabrics. As always---too many ideas and too little time.