Polyps III
Materials: Wool. Small Synchronous motor & metal rod. Crochet, knotted and non-woven techniques. (13"h x 11"w x 11" d)
I'm pleased to announce my piece, Polyps III, was juried into San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textile's Biennial Exhibition.
This piece is a kinetic fiber sculpture. Via a small hidden motor, the body of the sculpture rises and then gently falls back onto itself only to slowly rise again.
At the same time, the slender appendages at the top of piece gently oscillate — reminiscent of living sea anemones, which inspired the series.
This fiber sculpture was created in 1975, at the time when textiles had moved from being a 2-dimensional art form into the realm of 3-dimensional art — sculptural in nature, to be viewed in the round as a 3-D sculptural object. The term "fiber sculpture" had entered the vernacular, and fiber art was taking its place as non-functional, free-standing artforms and recognized as sculptures. This piece, a “kinetic fiber sculpture”, pushed that juncture from 2-D to 3-D a bit further — into a 4th dimension — the dimension of movement.
Polyps III is featured in Elyse Sommer's book, Inventive Fiber Crafts, where photographer Robbie Fannie captures in a series of still frames the subtle sequence of movements shot within one minute.
Now in its fortieth year, the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles is at a juncture in time, where the Musuem can both reflect on the past and look forward to the future. The theme for this show was the idea of a juncture in time. A juncture can also be an intersection of place or events, often one laden with symbolic potential: In many folk traditions, junctures as represented by crossroads are a potent metaphor for transition. Though a juncture can be a time for reflection, the word can also describe a critical moment or crisis that demands immediate action. With this concept as our point of departure, artists were asked to take the exhibition’s theme of “juncture” where it leads them.
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