June

"(...) from wholeness as a living plant to fragment strands and back to wholeness again as a" tapestry. "The dual powers of destruction and creation that shape the world. Strands once separated are rewoven into a new hole." Grief can "be comforted by creation, by rebuilding the homeland that was taken. The fragments, like ash splints, can be rewoven into a new whole." Robin Wall Kimerer (2020). Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants.

Photo of tapestry (76 x 82 cm) by Monica Pinheiro CC BY-NC-SA (CC) June 20, 2024.

creation at the core of art-I-fact

The beginning of a new tapestry starts long before I lay out the threads on the frame. Each tapestry starts as a synapse that survived in my brain. With time it weaves together with other synapses, creating a visual memory that grows and evolves, reinforcing some features and letting go others. This visual memory mixes with previous experiences, narratives of people, new and old books, and life’s events at the gestating stage. Then, the image of possibilities for the next work meets with the material affordances of all the resources collected. Materiality that will give substance to daydream explorations, until the dialogue between mind, hands, vision, and materials becomes irresistible and the fragrances fill the room with the materialization of a new art-I-fact. From stillness to flow. Hatched from a resilient synapse that joined with others. Creation at the core. Flourishing by coming into being. 

Photo of tapestry (83  x 78 cm) by Monica Pinheiro CC BY-NC-SA (CC) 2024.

May

From nothing to something. The power of creation. "It seemed to me that man could be as effective as God, in tasks other then destruction." in The Man Who Planted Trees (16:40 / 30:02). Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC)