Pocket Keep Beatrix, (detail)
Encaustic, Deconstructed Fast Fashion Clothing, Thread, Wire, Hand and Machine Stitch. 23 (36 including threads) x 12 x 5”.
In January, I completed online workshops with Joel S Allen of Steamboat Springs, (see Blog #3) to shore up my wire working skills, a necessity to effectively structure of a series of suspended sculptures, “Pocket Keeps.”
Technically, the series began as an exploration utilizing deconstructed fast-fashion clothing as a substrate for encaustic paint, rather than my customary 2D wood painting panels.
Conceptually, the work is about the secrets we keep. Pockets represent what we carry concealed inside – our sense of self, our memories, fears, hopes, and dreams.
I learned from “The Pocket, A Hidden History of Women's Lives” by Barbara Burman & Ariane Fennetaux, that from 1660 to 1900, Tie-on Pockets were worn by women of all social classes, generally hidden under one's skirts, accessed via a slit in the volumes of fabric.
Historically, prior to the 20th century, while men's clothing were regularly designed with pockets, women's garments lacked built-in pocket construction.
Keeps are the inner stronghold of a castle. Usually either square or round, keeps are the place of last refuge when defending the castle.
An artist's studio is somewhat like a keep, in that it is often a place isolated from others, where an artist is protected from the extreme sensory overload of the outside world. During Covid, many more of us have been working in isolation, keeping refuge from exposure to the virus.
Are you also feeling pocketed inside some kind of private Keep? Are you sharing secret worries and concerns with loved ones, or holding them close?
This body of work has been a way for me to create form to an otherwise vague sense of keeping closed from the outside world. I'd love to hear from you either in the below comments box, or privately to my email.