Conversation and Encounter. TSA Symposium 2014. (original) (raw)

I would like to offer some insight into the work of three unique Australian textile artists: Ruth Hadlow, Elisa Markes-Young and Wendy Lugg. All three work across cultural borders drawing influence and inspiration – aesthetic, technical and conceptual – from specific objects of textile material culture. Hadlow responds to her encounters with West Timorese woven cloth; Markes-Young her memories of traditional Polish domestic cloths and papercuts; and Lugg to utilitarian Japanese Boro. Each response involves a process of ‘reading’ and reflecting upon individual textile pieces: a silent dialogue or ‘conversation,’ which is then interpolated into their own work. The most intriguing aspect of these encounters is the artists’ capacity to deeply and irrevocably respond at both the conceptual and physical level. All three activate the knowledge gleaned from their observations and interactions and apply it within their own visual art practices. These practices produce new contemporary visual artworks. The main focus of this paper is to consider how these artists apply their observations within their making and thinking practices. To ask the question: How do these cultural items both inform and transform their art making?