Skip to main content

Connecting and Interpreting : Story #4 from the ATASDA Collaborative Golden Cape

 

Connecting and Interpreting : Story #4 from the ATASDA Collaborative Golden Cape 

Background :
This year, 2024, ATASDA ( Australian Textile Arts and Surface Design Association) is celebrating its Golden Anniversary. The Collaborative Golden Cape is a celebratory garment representing 50 years of creativity in textile arts.
Members of ATASDA have joined together to create a beautiful cape comprising of 50 art panels inspired by 50 past ATASDA artworks. Each contribution to the Cape is a personal response to its corresponding historic artwork and its story. The Golden Cape, embellished with these beautiful cameos of textile art and surface design, will travel and be displayed throughout Australia.

Parrwang: 
Jo-Anne Britt drew inspiration for her contribution to the cape from the 1987 work by Bobbie Winger . This was a dramatic wearable textile artwork, entitled , "Dancing Cloak for a Currawong". The limited colour palette and the "feathery" form of the cloak really appealed to Jo-Anne and it's easy to see this attraction, even from this archived photo. 
Dancing Cloak for a Currawong : Bobbie Winger 1987 

Living on Wadawurrung land, Jo-Anne chose to interpret Bobbie's work by featuring the parrwang (magpie). The black and white might have been obvious, but Jo-Anne took the concept further and the colours she has included in her palette reflect the Australian magpie's eggs and the vast  blue sky as contrasts. I think these are  brilliant choices which add to the parrwang's narrative. 

Parrwang : Jo-Anne Britt 2023 

This completed panel for the collaborative cape shows careful consideration of materials and techniques and attention to detail before the abstraction of the parrwang wing feathers. 
Jo-Anne researched and sketched the parrwang wings, transferring the shapes onto silk fabric. Further details were created with fabric paints  and free machine stitching. 
When the entire piece was stitched, Jo-Anne cut shapes again and re-assembled an embellished abstract interpretation of the parrwang wing feathers. 

This is a such thoughtful textile artwork which so aptly celebrates the golden anniversary. Because the parrwang (magpie) is a highly adaptable bird that can thrive in a variety of environments, this has made it a symbol of adaptability and resilience. Jo-Anne's interpretation shows not only her skill and creativity but also her love and respect of her natural surroundings and indigenous Dreamtime.  This artwork  looks stunning as part of the Golden cape ( see lower right in the photo) 

Collaborative Golden Cape ( front)  ATASDA 2023-2024 



Other stories in this series.  Please check them out if you haven't already. 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for reading my blog and please share your thoughts about my blog post by leaving a comment.Your comment won't appear immediately as comments are verified before publication in an effort to reduce the amount of spam appearing. Anonymous comments will not be published.

Popular posts from this blog

Christmas Countdown #25envelopes/9 : Holly

  9 December Christmas Countdown #25envelopes : Holly . The Druids of ancient Britain believed holly leaves had great powers of fertility and longevity . Nowadays, Holly has become a symbol of a Christian Christmas. It is also said that the sharp holly represents the crown of thorns that Jesus wore, and the red berries the blood he shed, so it has quite a religious significance. Today’s envelope is a simple collage with paper and fabric. I couched (stitched) Holly ribbon and embroidered French knots for the berries. The Holly theme is inspired by one of my favourite Australian Christmas stamps, depicting an angel with holly leaf wings . Today, I was stitching the holly ribbon onto the envelope at the Wednesday group and had planned to glue on some paper berries but a friend convinced me that embroidered ones would look much better and I think she is right!
Post a Comment
Read more

#SeptTextileLove Day 5

  #SeptTextileLove #STL26Day5   ‘Caring’ … so much of what textile artists do involves caring - for the environment , for others, for our own health and well-being , for social justice, for our art … today I’m advocating caring about sourcing our materials . I use lots of embroidery thread and it is sometimes tempting to buy cheaper imported threads than the ones I really love to work with, - hand dyed right here in Australia by a small    family business . I looked at one of the omnipresent online ads with its    incorrect spelling and the suggestion that bulk is better gives strong    hints about the ‘quality’ and the price makes me wonder about the working conditions and rights of those who produce and package the thread?    I care that the people who make the materials I use get a fair wage and work in safe conditions. I also care that the quality of the materials I use are the best I can afford and have the least negative impact on ...
Post a Comment
Read more

#SeptTextileLove26 Day 7

  #SeptTextileLove #STL26Day7 ‘Historical’ ... Family history is often a source of inspiration and information for my work. This stitched work featuring a photo of my great grandmother also acts as a commentary on the Chinese historical practice of foot binding, hence the inclusion of an x ray photograph of a female bound foot. It looks painful and undoubtedly was , but it was considered 'beautiful". What contemporary body shaping practices do we still engage in for the sake of ‘beauty’? Historical body shaping practices included tight-lacing corsets, foot binding, and neck elongation , all used to mould the human form into culturally defined ideals of beauty. (AI overview) Foot Binding in China Starting from Song elites and eventually popularized and ended in the Qing dynasty, foot binding was seen as an idolized representation of women's petite beauty, and the practice was referred to as "三寸金莲" , 'three-inch golden lotus' Wikipedia . This practice...
Post a Comment
Read more