GOOD HANDS (MY HANDS ARE GOOD HANDS WHEN MY HANDS ARE OPEN)
ARTIST STATEMENT
Have you ever been told you are in good hands? Did you believe it?
What does it mean to you, to be in good hands?
Through the making of tapestries, with old clothes symbolizing sincerity, honesty and vulnerability,
I explore what this concept might mean today.
Through making these pieces, I realized it is easy to worry about whose hands I am in, within a world that grows weirder every day, and tust seems like an endangered species.
It seems right to know how to be part of the mending and repair process (belief that there is a process seems to be the first step).
The creative work I do alone was always meant to build a bridge of connection and empathy for someone else, and I never know how or who will feel the other end of the connection that creative urge and primal hopes got started. I mean, art can be a kind of safety net for people. I don't know how it works, but I can tell that it works.
These pieces -- especially --
"Trust Exercises"
"Turning towards Each Other"
"Listening Tool"
and
"How to Draw a Line Between You and Me"
Symbolize the journey of digging deep, and reaching out.
Scrappy, hopeful, quirky, messy, honest...these pieces all have their own narrative and it was hard to reign in their independent artistic directions. Lean in close. You might find a hole, a loose bit of thread. You might find intricate embroidery.
These works are meant to represent relationships and perceptions of others, and reflect a responsibility to continue the gritty work of mending and repair, starting within.
Come visit Good Hands at the Port Coquitlam Community Centre January 12th into April 8th.
