ATB6 Artists on "Transitions"

by Linda Rees

"Rift" by Ellen Ramsey is obviously about polarity, . . . Not only is the piece strong in design but technically very well executed. Knowing from experience how challenging it is to achieve attractive turns in a pattern area such as the lower half of the rose, where one color is used only every three or six picks, and the edges of the shape are free-form, I asked Ellen to share her insights.

below: Ellen Ramsey, Rift, 35" x 35", Photo by Scott Ramsey

"The bottom part of the rose, where the red runs through as a single pick, is woven from one side of the rose to the other. This part pulled in as a result, and controlling the slits at its border was a major issue. Something I had not realized would happen.  The black half of the rose uses double-weft interlock where black meets white. The background is full of slits everywhere. This part was woven in small areas at a time."

"Possession: Impact/Imprint #1," by Jane Kidd, unequivocally "divides and conquers" the surface, but with a delicate and cheerful beauty.

below: Jane Kidd, Possession: Imprint/Impact #1, 54" x 25" 
Photo by John Dean

"I use a compartmentalized format to separate distinct spatial and conceptual areas. I present the collection of images and symbols in this disembodied frame to separate them from their familiar environment and draw into question their identity as natural objects or objects from the material culture. I want the images to seem confined in distinct pictorial fields as if collected, analysed and recorded as data. . . . I look for maximum detail with the minimum of tedious joins. To this end I often employ auxiliary threads that are linked into the woven structure but can work more freely on the woven surface."

"Seen Through Tears # 6" by Kristen Saeterdal of Norway, is a direct contrast in presenting a subtle two color movement, woven on an oval frame of her own construction.

below: Kristin Sæterdal, "Seen Through Tears No. 6," 21" x 25"  Photo by the artist

"The slow graduation of the colour is a meditation on how little or how much is enough to make an interesting picture. It is like a close up, or a fragment, and I think of it as both a figurative and an abstract motif. . . . The round format represents a lens through which a straight line becomes curved in a special way. The lines are transformed from straight to curved, like a miracle!"

below: Kristin Sæterdal, Very Rare Figures Seen on this Earth,
29" diameter each. Photo by the artist

"If the viewer moves just one bit to the side, the circle becomes an ellipse. We can find the circle in the window of a submarine or a spaceship. Perhaps it can be like a peephole into a slightly different world?"

Review

Gugger Petter: The Dailies

by Lany Eila

For the past 18 years, Gugger Petter has been creating artworks from newspaper.  A recent show of work, on display at Thirteen Moons Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico (www.thirteenmoonsgallery.com), includes heavily textured wall pieces woven with this medium.  In her artist statement, Petter writes, "My fascination with newspaper consists not only of its historic and informative aspect, but also that newspaper being a daily material, holds a reference point for my own daily stories used as imagery."

below: Gugger Pedder, Three People with Two Dogs, 42" x 82"
Photo courtesy of Thirteen Moons Gallery.

The newspaper is tightly rolled into tubes and woven (1 to 4 ppi) on a hemp warp (1 epi).  The stiffness of the weft would not allow the warp to be fully covered, even if that were her intention, but the weaving techniques are otherwise those of tapestry.  In the sidewalk scenes, eccentric weft is used for the sidewalk and street, offering a textured contrast to the non-eccentric weft of the figures.  Conversely, the hard candies are woven with eccentric weft against a conventional background.

below: Gugger Pedder, Three People with Dog, 69" x 63"
Photo courtesy of Thirteen Moons Gallery.

below: Gugger Pedder, Bolsjer #2. 76" x 61
Photo courtesy of Thirteen Moons Gallery.

The thick weft that creates this highly textured work requires simplification and/or magnification of images, and plays on the pixelation inherent to tapestry.  The result often appears abstract up close.

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