Special Projects Collaboration
I have the great fortune to have many very talented and creative family members!
A fiber artist, a watercolorist, one art gallery lighting designer, a fashion museum curator, two animation specialists, and a musician. Yea, what a bunch!
I’ve been able to hang lighting for a couple art shows of some of their works over time, and more recently gotten to directly collaborate with my sister’s fiber art. Kris is internationally known for & teaches a unique combination of hooking & braiding rugs and hanging art pieces.
We’d discussed lighting one of her pieces for a while & on “Awakening“ it came together. Below the image is the Artists Statement, shown with the piece at each exhibit (in multiple regional & national events):
Awakening
2021
Hooked, Braided, Joomchi, LED Lights
Kris McDermet and Tim Mathiesen
I got the idea of the Leechee nuts from a platter I bought at the Brattleboro Area Hospice’s shop called Experience Goods in Brattleboro, VT. I loved the cranberry colored nuts and the greens of the leaves. Awakening started to be a rug for the floor but about a quarter of the way to completion, it became evident it was too light in color for muddy boots and animals! While hooking & braiding the center I realized I would never walk on it so decided to make it for the wall (the first moment of discovery!). Due to the weight of the braids, I decided to make it into multiple pieces and let my wall become part of the finished piece. There would be about 1.5 “ of air space between each piece with the walls considered just as important as the hooked & braided sections (another artistic piece-altering decision!). It grew to 10 sections but using the common theme of simple leaves and nuts throughout.
At the time I was working on the sections, I took a class in Joomchi* felting and made the decision to combine the Joomchi and the hooked & braided sections using the common leaf pattern as a base (now a third ‘ah ha’ moment! - now the name Awakening!). I had wanted to back light one of my fiber art creations and this seemed a fitting idea with my brother Tim Mathiesen who is a wonderful lighting designer. Awakening was taking shape over the winter of 2021 during the pandemic and stay at home orders. Our imaginations were developing and Tim began looking at how best to light the Joomchi elements.
After exploring how natural back-lighting enhanced the wonderful qualities of the hand-made paper, we settled on using a lightbox. The shallow depth of the box would utilize a ‘sheet’ of LEDs with layers of diffusion to help soften or smooth the light. My husband Stewart built the lightbox and we three figured out how to attach the Joomchi 3 layers of felting. The LEDs are ‘tunable’ white (they can be a warm, neutral, or cool white depending on the room setting) and we utilized a dimmer to have ultimate control of the lighting effect.
The lights make the felting shine and help to bring out the color of the wool and silk used in the hooking & braiding.
The effect of the entire piece needs the natural light (or overhead display lights) of the room plus the brilliance of the back-lit Joomchi.
* Joomchi is a “centuries-old Korean paper-making technique that uses water to seal several layers of thin, handmade mulberry papers together to form a single, strong sheet. The paper is first wet, then, aggressively gripped, grabbed, stretched, and manipulated until the fibers are broken down, or felted. A major transformation occurs: flat sheets of paper become a very organic, leather-like, almost living form.” from Susan Avishai
There is more collaborating in the works (lucky me!). See this post from @krisbraids on instagram for a sneak peek. As well, in the wings, we have a nice piece in the conceptual stage at this time, so stay tuned for that.