This piece is called Etesian after the winds that sweep south out of northern Europe into the Aegean. It started with a yard of cotton I dyed in the bright reds and oranges. I then added more, smaller, hand dyed shiboriied lengths to create the ground fabric. I had the blue screen printed yardage I'd done about a year ago and spent a long time at the design wall ripping it up and auditioning it onto the base. Then I built a couple of screens with the wonky "donuts" and did the printing to unify the piece. I thought it was visually quite flat in spite of the bright colors so cut out, hand stitched and quilted all those individual donuts. Still not content, I brought in the expert eyes of my artist friend Cynthia Catlin and we mulled and auditioned various things. I settled on the black spirals which add visual depth.
Love those spirals--great piece with the color. I've always thought that spirals dead-ended themselves, but maybe when they begin in mid-air, there is more movement, a way out.
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Just saw a documentary about Maya Lin (the architect/sculptor) and she has been using spirals in her work as they imply a sense of eternity to her. She did a piece at Yale which uses them honoring the women who've attended. They may be a female symbol historically.
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