Velvet Underground

Watergarden

Mixed textile media

32cm x 32cm x 8cm

Panels for Touch Tables, commissioned by Leicestershire County Council's Open Museum in 2011

http://www.leics.gov.uk/index/leisure_tourism/museums/open_museum/artworks/touchtables.htm

The panels are intriguing and complex story pieces that change their appearance as they are played with and explored, tactile three-dimensional pictures to delight and enchant the senses.

 

 

 

 

Velvet Underground

Inspired by the work of Hundertwasser and Gaudi and their imaginative re-invention of the urban landscape, this piece is a flat-packed urban map of a strange and enchanted city. Buttoned down the woolen flaps protect what is underneath like a warm blanket, unbuttoned they rise up high like soft, wavy walls above a soft underground of jewelled colours and precious fabrics, of velvet, silk and glittery shiny cloth and threads.  Through this strange and silent cityscape the hands can wander and meander, the fingers almost sinking into the soft ground as they explore textures and surfaces.  In the round sloping façades above and around the underground, the buttonholes become windows, tear or rain drop openings, while the buttons on the ground turn into central features that stand out like roof top fountains, sculptures or cupolas, hard and cold against the warmth of the fabrics.

 

 

Water Garden

In the dry and arid lands of Schehezerade, water is of the upmost importance. In the luxurious gardens surrounding the palaces of the Arabian tales, the sound of water could be heard everywhere to refresh and delight the body and spirit. Like a murmur, its crisp sound arises from below the surface as we enter the Water Garden with our hands, gently exploring its features. Untying the ribbons, themselves watery bands flowing across the gardens like little streams, undulating pools are revealed with their glittering reflections of silvery threads, mirrored circles and shiny pearls. Among the waters a strange plant with thick curling leaves grows from a plot of red-hot earth, fed perhaps by an underground spring below the surface. Next to a shiny pool with its round mother-of-pearl islands, there is a small hill. Opening the zip on top of it, a thin cloth floating with transparent flower petals can be gently pulled out from between its sharp teeth to spill over the garden like a waterfall, cascading into the pools and pouring into the dry earth.