Threading the Past
- Digital reprodution of a stitched painting (silk, silk dyes and resist, thread, polyester batting)
- 36 x 36 in
- Linda Gass
"Based on historic maps, the stitching lines in 'Threading the Past' show former shorelines and wetlands’ channels in the Bay, revealing where wetlands have been filled and diked and where water channels persist to this day despite this fragmentation." - Linda Gass
Artist’s Statement:
I am inspired by the relationship between humans and the water and land that sustain them. My work explores how landscapes change over time focusing on those places where destruction and renewal, wounding and healing, absence and presence overlap. The three artworks shown here explore the environmental impact of landfill and wetlands restoration on the health of San Francisco Bay, focusing on the human mark on the landscape as seen from the birds-eye point of view. Each artwork involves research such as reading scientific publications, interviewing scientists, historical and present day maps and photographs.
To make the artwork, I stretch a large piece of white silk on a frame and paint the landscape with vibrant liquid silk dyes. I then remove the silk painting from the frame and stitch it using quilting and embroidery techniques to create the highly detailed and textured landscapes you see. The aesthetic of beauty is important to my work; it helps make the serious nature of the environmental concerns I’m addressing more approachable
- Created: 2006
- Current Location: Department of Environmental Health - 1131 Harbor Bay Pkwy Alameda, CA 94502 (google map)
- Collections: Department of Environmental Health
Alameda County Arts Commission
https://arts.acgov.org/
All artwork copyright the artists. All rights reserved.
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