Kete show dye 'event'

Here are pictures of the latest vertical dyeing 'event'. It definitely got a lot of attention. It was hard to take photos as there were always people in the way so some of them are from odd angles.

The above photo is my favourite. I love it that  the guy is looking the the other way!

I got some really good feedback from all sorts of people including some gallery owners and craft collectors. Although most people didn't know what it was about as there were no artist statements.

Here is my latest stab at an artist statement for the Watermark panels.

Spring 2013

Cotton fabric and thread

Hand-guided machine applique and embroidery

Fabric Dye

Size 220cm X 150cm

My work investigates the relationship between commerce, the environment and the damaging effects of ‘the race to the bottom’, where the consumer and importer demand the lowest price and the manufacturer is forced to cut corners to secure a profit.

Water treatment is expensive and rivers in textile manufacturing countries,  run blue or pink or turquoise with waste-water run-off from the textile industry. The dyes are so strong that it is possible to predict fashionable colours for the seasons ahead by looking at Googlearth. As consumers, how much responsibility do we have for environmental destruction in a far off land, ‘out of sight, out of mind’? Do we have any right to even comment when our own rivers are polluted with invisible contaminants; fertilisers and bacteria from farms and heavy metals as run-off from roads?

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The hardest part is moving on. Now the work for this show is done, I need to start thinking about what I do next. We have a group show at the end of the year with approximately 1.5 m each so not much space. I don't think I am going to come up with a new idea before then so will see whether I can come up with a variation. All ideas gratefully received!
Clare

Exhibition bits and pieces

Well I have come down to earth with a bump! I did 8 loads of washing over the weekend, I cooked dinner for 12 (for my whole family to thank them for their support with hanging the exhibition, cleaning, peeling off the vinyl lettering at the end, clearing up, plastering screw holes (er, the less said the better, the plastery stuff shrank and sank back into the holes), making and clearing food at the opening etc. I now have to mark some assignments and write a 2000+ word essay.

So life goes on - but in case anyone is interested I do have 2 hours of video and a time lapse photography sequence which I will link to, once I have worked out how to do something with it. I make stuff but have no idea of how to do video.

I have had a great response to the blog photos , wonderful comments,  thanks everyone.

I have to think - what next, do I aim high and risk rejection or just a bit higher and keep it manageable. We'll see. Mainly I just have to get through this year.

Ok - on a technical note - the exhibition pieces are wall hangings, not quilts. They are one whole layer with a second layer behind . However, I usually make quilts and these could easily be turned into a quilt except then they wouldn't be see through.  The stitching is done by free-machine stitching. I didn't use a programmed machine, I did it all myself by using a hoop to stop the fabric wrinkling (I hate using a hoop).

I used cotton thread which took the dye on the front and stayed white on the back . I expected the thread to take the dye better than it has.

They are  see through and look great in a window, unfortunately due to the high UV in New Zealand they would fade very quickly if I did that over here.

They are NZ$500 each (plus postage).

 Detail from day 3.

Oh - I never mentioned, what I called them.

I looked into fashion colour forecasting. I saw some Google Earth images where you can see the rivers running navy blue with dye run-off from jeans manufacture. I thought maybe it might be possible to work out what next year's fashionable colours might be, by looking at Google Earth.

From http://grist.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/google-maps-denim-dye-500.jpg

So here is
Spring/Summer Colour Forecast 2013

It is a bit of a mouthful but no-one really looked at the names anyway, they were too busy looking at the dye.


http://www.china.org.cn/english/environment/189819.htm

Here is a funny coincidence. I googled 'Clare Smith Watermark'. I was actually trying to find an article in a local newspaper which people keep telling me about, but we don't live in the area that gets that paper. So anyway - I googled my name and came up with a link to Clare Smith. I found I had made a film called Watermark and didn't know it.  It seems that another artist called Clare Smith has made a film called Watermark about a paper factory in Dover, England.