Thursday, May 22, 2014

Last but one


I think the next picture will be the full piece, so maybe now is the right time to explain. I've become "obsessed" with little squares. 1in (2.54cm) squares. But this is recent history. Flashback to childhood: I learned to knit at around 5 years old, and loved it. The first piece of garment I remember knitting myself and wearing to school was a hand-dyed, multicolour vest. Before that, of course, I tried my hand at the obligatory scarf, and the not less obligatory seamless garter stitch pullover everybody seemed to "need" in the 1970s.

I went on to knit for myself and for friends, sometimes as gifts, sometimes to order, challenging myself into lace stockings, Norwegian patterns, baby clothes, Chanel-ish suits or YSL inspired jackets. I was very good, if I say so myself.

Then I moved to Africa and felt there was no point for me to knit anymore, considering you hardly need warm clothes when the place you call home is 7° north of the Equator. Not being one to leave my fingers idle, I started a small crafts company doing to-order beadwork and sewing children clothes using local hand-dyed batik or African prints. It was brilliant, but what I enjoyed doing was to create the styles, not to produce 20+ similar garments, varying only in colour or size. Boredom started creeping in, despite the success, and the logistics of maintaining all sizes, all colours, for half a year (we don't really have seasons here, but clients need to know they'll find the same item for at least a few months) became cumbersome.

Out with crafts, in with arts. Yes. Just like that. After spending a whole year pondering on what really makes me tick, I decided that I loved the creative process, but not the commercial production side. I loved to make my (sometimes really crazy) thoughts become objects, but not to have to make them fit the taste that happens to be "en vogue" this season or appeal to the (wo)man in the street. One thing became obvious: when you remove any commercial aim from crafts, only two things remain: creativity and skill.



I love the idea of using a soft knitting yarn to create a rigidly square pattern. I love the age-old technique of knitting, and the very contemporary pixelated rendition.

This work is the first I'll publish online. I pixelated a black and white picture of a lizard and knitted only the dark parts. They are temporarily pinned to a plywood board where I traced lines forming 1in squares, to "block" them before transfering the pieces on a fabric that will be stretched on a frame, like a painting. It may not give an exact idea of what I'm aiming at, but please bear with me. It's a long, very long, process and all will be revealed in due time!

Tuesday, May 20, 2014