For the final Women Pulling at the Threads of Social Discourse exhibition of the year, we asked the 117 participating artists (more than ever before!) to reflect on some Absurdist works by Beckett, Kafka, Camus, Saramago, and de Beauvoir. Titled Don't Be Absurd, we asked all of our artists to elucidate how they connected, interpreted, and presented the texts, as well as the added constraints of a circular shape and fiber art.
Our second Q&A roundup features CAMP artists Eden Quispe and Barbara Ringer, alongside artists Ewa Dąbkowska, Judy Polstra, and Madison Hendry.
Is this your first time being in The Women Pulling at The Threads of Social Discourse exhibition series? If yes, what drew you in? If not, how many have you been in - and what are your thoughts over the different editions?
Eden Quispe: No, this is my second, I love the community building that happens with these exhibits!
Barbara Ringer: This is my third time: I had a piece in both This is not a Doll’s House and We Got the Power. I was intrigued to try my hand at making something for This is not a Doll’s House because I frequently use dolls in my work. Even though photography is my main medium I wanted to challenge myself and create using fiber materials. Both editions were challenging but ultimately a lot of fun, and my sewing skills have gone from minimal to basic.
Ewa Dąbkowska: This year, I'm participating in the exhibition for the first time. I liked the open call format, in which the gallery selects projects rather than finished works. The exhibition theme and recommended reading also encouraged me to create works.
Judy Polstra: Yes, this is my first time. I've always wanted to be a part of this exciting exhibition, but always missed the deadline to apply.
Madison Hendry: Yes! This is my first time! The title, a women's exhibition and that I had just started a series that I knew would be perfect to create specifically for this exhibition!
Each edition of this fiber series asks artists to respond to particular literary classics, who did you select for this year and why?
EQ: Saramago suggests that humanity descends into filth caused by moral and spiritual blindness. The work "Fate" shows three women who are tackling the filth that the problem has caused. Girl scout badges are placed throughout as a token of appreciation and a nod to their inability to get to the root of the issue.
A textile deer in the corner appears as an apparition of spiritual goodness, conjured up by their efforts, hope that they cannot see.
The work "Ash" is based of a real life friend who is daily overcoming the abuse of her past. The work considers the hope within Camus thinking, that we should find ways to rebel against the futility of suffering.
BR: I picked Beckett’s Waiting for Godot –- the wordplay and circular reasoning remind me of my favorite comedy team, Abbott and Costello. I really enjoy the mixture of humor and despair.
ED: I've chosen The Stranger.
I was enchanted by the simple description of the habit of looking out from the apartment at the world in the evening, which Camaieu included in his work. Tranquility, a certain nostalgia, mindfulness and establishing a relationship with the surroundings. This is a memory that Meursault recalls in his cell, such a seemingly small activity but so important. The peace of the evening, when the setting sun caresses and the air soothes. On the other hand, there is a wave of heat, the sun is scorching and the body is angry, tired. The man was pushed to murder by unfavourable weather conditions. An evil world.
JP: I could not choose from just one from the Absurd collection. Each of this contributed to my hand
embroidered installation:
1. Kafka, Metamorphosis -- our appearance changes over time, people treat others differently
according to their looks. Our usefulness can be determined by our looks. Once Gregor turned into an insect and he could not provide financially for him, his family no longer found him useful, and they discarded him. Our physical lives shape and inform our mental lives. Angst, alienation, isolation, self imprisonment, self-disgust.
2. Camus, The Stranger -- nothing holds permanence. Youth does not hold permanence. Our life does not hold permanence. There is always the whisper of death. Death is inevitable. That does not mean that our lives are nothing. Instead, we should accept our inevitable fate and appreciate every step along the way.
3. Simone de Beauvoir, All Men Are Mortal -- a man, Raymond Fosca, has taken an elixir which makes him immortal. He is 700 years old when he meets the main character of our story, a woman who falls in love with him. While it may seem to be a goal to live forever, the man who takes the elixir feels alone and quite alienated as he has watched everything and everyone around him decay and die over the centuries. He values the temporality of life as he learns that he is doomed to outlive everything he holds dear. Death is what gives life meaning, urgency and purpose. Existentialism- humans are born free without an ordained plan- create your own life’s meaning, while protecting others’ rights to do the same.
4. Saramago, Blindness -- “The only thing more terrifying than blindness is being the only one who can see”. A young man goes suddenly blind, whose blindness is contagious . More and more people become blind until it is an epidemic. Bleak view of humans- very dark.
5. Samuel Becket, Waiting for Godot -- futile search for meaning, endless waiting for meaning in life. (Waiting for that magic elixir of youth? Wrinkle cream, beauty serum? The meaning of life? It will never arrive.)
MH: Shimmering birthday streamers are familiar and celebrate the birth - what if that birth was was altered by ego, by ignorance, sacrificing ones sense of autonomy? As a mother and an artist, Franz Kafka, Metamorphosis, spoke to my studio practice. Pulling back the layers to reveal a raw artifact; a residue of what was once painful - utilizing pink, fun birthday streamers and reconstructing them into a weaving to represent the birth of my daughter was healing, yet brought up memories that were hard to face. The Re-Birth of creating something that celebrated her birth, but resurfaced hard memories can be quite layered and can dismiss how hard birth can be for mothers. Having expectations and it not going as envisioned, feeling out of control and dehumanized when bringing life into the world can hold lifelong affects on a mother’s mind and body.
What do you feel about the shape constraint?
EQ: I love using circles in my work already, so it was a non issue to be constrained.
BR: I didn’t love it.
ED: It was an interesting challenge for me, because I had never made round fabrics before, I had to find new technical solutions. It was really hard for me. I tried three times to create as sketched, but in the end I had to let the art dictate the design.
JP: Love it- no issue.
MH: It challenged me to manipulate my materials in a way I have not before -- a circle much better represents this work than I have made in the past and I'm so happy with the result of the artwork I created!
At the gallery, we are always interested in knowing how the actual process of making the work affects you - please explain, if you can, what is on your mind while making your piece?
EQ: I had to actively put aside the repetitive housework I normally do to make time to make these pieces. I felt I was acting out the rebellion of futility in creating something that would be permanent instead of cleaning something that would only stay clean temporarily.
BR: I had the most fun rereading the play and imagining my two hobo dolls as Gogo and Didi. I imagined what words I would put in their thought bubbles. When I start to get anxious about hand sewing the pieces together I hear my characters urging me on, telling me nothing really matters. So that works.
ED: I knit constantly; sitting quiet with music, walking, in social situations at the office, or at a party. It allows me to keep my hands occupied and mind focused on the present moment, helping me approach everyday life with calm.
JP: I find hand embroidery to be so therapeutic. I usually use vintage textiles in my work. Holding history in my hands together with the rhythm of hand stitching and even stabbing of the needle into the thread is very calming. I often listen to classical music while I stitch and find my hand sometimes in-sync with the music, especially if it is a piano (I'm a pianist).
MH: With this work, it is a weaving, a grid, but with the circular shape, I had to weave more organically instead of using a pattern. I had to take time, step back and utilize my underdrawing to help guide me. I worked on this while my kids played and funny enough, they never touched it or pulled on it!
What inspires you?
EQ: Textiles and artisans who came before me are always inspiring my art. What they did was never absurd.
BR: Other artists’ dark stories.
ED: I am inspired by nature, especially water - lakes, waves, flashing light; the colors.
JP: Intelligent, articulate people with a passion; music, especially classical and jazz; great films.
MH: My own lived experience inspires me to make work. I am always conceptually driven and chose my materials by utilizing objects or imagery that I cherish and holds value.
Can you let us know about three fiber artists who have helped shape your work?
EQ: Sheila Hicks, Annie Albers (both who like me, traveled to Peru and were inspired by ancient textile traditions) and Faith Ringold whose painted quilts I remember seeing in elementary art class in the 90s. She was the first to teach me that art can be textiles.
BR: I’d say Louise Bourgeois, as someone who used events from her childhood in her work, her creativity
being a sort of therapeutic process. Tracey Emin and Eva Hesse, for the same reasons. They all used art
making as a way to deal with traumatic events in their lives.
ED: Kai Kotto, Ľudmila Bubánová, Karolina Lizurej
JP: I have been following Michelle Kingdom out of CA for many years. Her work is very dream like, almost surreal, always featuring women.
MH: My first ever studio visit was while I was in undergrad at Florida Atlantic University with my sculpture professor, Tom Scicluna, Miami-based conceptual artist and he introduced me to Frances Trombley -- She was already a mother, and in so many shows! It was really inspiring, especially when I became pregnant fresh out of grad school with my MFA and living in New York -- Last thing I thought was making art as a mother and about motherhood! A few more fiber artists/conceptual artists are Courtney Kessel and Julie Gladstone.