Deep Purple/Yellow Ground, hand dyed wool on linen, 11 x 10 inches.This piece is another in my series of figure/ground images, but I don't think a terribly successful one in my aim, which is to have shapes which are balanced so that none seem to be the primary "figure" of the composition. I liked the idea of using a deep warm purple along with a darkish warm yellow. At first I considered making the center shape dark and the surrounding quarter-circles yellow, but thought a dark center would recede, never holding the surface. What I didn't take into account when choosing the colors was that yellow would insistently say "star", which wouldn't happen with another color, let's say green. I was hoping your eye would bounce back and forth from central shape to surrounding curved corners, but I think the yellow takes precedence. Oh well... If you'd like to see some of the other works in this series, go to this blog post.
This detail shows how I put an edge around each form so one doesn't seem to slip behind the other. I keep the hooking direction simple and flat: horizontal and vertical. But even the simplest of ideas can switch gears on you without you realizing it; I don't mind the shift from time to time.
The Byzantines used the same trick in their mosaics -- opus vermiculatum -- except it was the background that got the outline cutting. "Usually opus vermiculatum is meant to put emphasis on the main design and foreground details of a work, using a smooth and flowing halo-effect. Sometimes it was used only around the head of a figure. The tesserae used were often square but can be variously shaped" From Wikipedia.
ReplyDeleteWoops. I should have said Greeks and Romans. The Byzantines were Johnny-Come-Lately's when it comes to opus vermiculatum.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this information, Nancie; I had no idea that the technique had a name or that it was used in mosaics. I just worked on a sketch for a future textile in which I thought I'd outline the forms in black, but I was thinking more of Max Beckman or Roualt.
ReplyDeleteIn this one I am enjoying the way the yellow points run off the ruglet and play with my eyes. I know you've done this before, but never in quite this way, and I like the contrast of light and dark here.
ReplyDeleteWhat you say about this is true. However, I find the star shape is mitigated by the less-than-perfect edges of the geometry. Very strong piece. Maybe different when it would be viewed on floor, not wall?
ReplyDeletethanks, Mona, I'm glad you like this piece.
ReplyDeleteJulie, those less than perfect edges are one of the things I like about this medium. If I cut thinner strips of wool, I'd be able to make more precise edges, but I like the irregularity. This is definitely not meant for the floor.
it's positively elegant. and the star reference isn't cloying since what I see first are the curves pressing inward....
ReplyDeleteWhen I first saw this piece; a tiny square on my monitor, it put me in mind of a Byzantine tile--and I was delighted to read the comment above about references to Greek, Roman and Byzantine mosaics. The more I look at it, the less I'm attached to reading it as a "star."
ReplyDeletethanks rappel, I'm really glad to read that you first saw the curves.
ReplyDeleteand Hannah, thank you also. I've definitely been thinking of pattern lately and that might have influenced my design for this piece.