April 22, 2014

A New Textile: "Divided Circle"


Divided Circle, hand dyed wool on linen, 12 in. diameter


A few months ago I made a round textile, Color Circle, and I thought I'd try the form again. In that piece I used curved lines to demarcate color areas, so emphasizing the round shape. This time I thought I'd stay flat, making clear color divisions: the main one is down the center, and on the right a horizontal below center. Then I added a diagonal, crossing the blue and green, changing their hues, which I hope looks like a transparent dark plane. Something I found very interesting is that I tried sketching the same composition as a square instead of a circle, but it just did not work for me; there is a tension that comes from the curving lines of the circle, their pushing in against the straight lines, that makes the composition more energetic.


Divided Circle, detail


I hooked the wool in straight lines, vertical for blue and horizontal for green, and then used curving lines for the smaller yellow shape. To me it makes the yellow appear to be behind the other colors. For the value shift in the blue and green, I just added more dye of the same hues to make the wool darker. I enjoy working with circles, in the Renaissance known as a tondo; I should make one every few months. 



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