that kind of confusion in the morning | waiting for something to happen | nostalgia for time spent in repetitive motion

Amanda Wood – Vancouver CANADA

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PROJECT STATEMENT

I wanted to deeply understand the emotional connections, and texture of woven cloth by removing function and tactility. To suspend time for a moment and think about how multiple forms could exist simultaneously, in-between, in a place of both/and. To capture a threshold or a fleeting moment of non-being.

In a small makeshift darkroom, light leaks influence the outcome. Working in the dark heightens the sense of tactility. The cloth seems to float, textural forms defy time as they simultaneously appear in shifting folds that move in and out of focus, flattening and reversing the darkness of the folds into light. Letting forms unfold as they will and accepting imperfection, has been both a solution to feeling distracted and a way to discover delight and surprise. These pieces capture a specific time, a deeper understanding of cloth and a return to the beginner’s mind.

I often seek fluency in material languages through practice and repetition. In this moment, shifting my thinking created a new set of rules, an acceptance of the “now”, and a place to explore unfamiliar processes and materials. I found a state of unknowing, a place where forms could emerge as they were. This place and this approach became as insightful as any path towards mastery of form or material. Glitches are created, resolved, or accepted in an endless cycle. Titles reflect momentary states of being that are ephemeral in nature yet can linger in a tactile way.

MEDIUM

Photographic Process

ARTIST BIO

Pulling from found and woven pieces of cloth, my forms are distilled from folds, crumples, shadows, and natural expressions found in both found scraps and precious handwoven cloth. I’m curious to see how these studies respond to each other and how they capture the fragility and transparency of the Anthropocene. I am seeking a third space where time, utility, form and materials exist simultaneously.

A hand-woven object is tactile and physical. It is created through a somatic experience that requires sustained focus, technique and time. My practice is grounded in the history, tools and techniques of hand weaving.

This practice has given me a deep understanding of the connection between body and mind. Guided by the temporality, materiality and physicality of the hand-weaving process, I am currently working with other materials and processes that rely on skill and handwork such as ceramics, photography, and printmaking. With a beginner’s mind and an interest in glitches and imperfection, I am working from a place of deep listening rather than mastery.

I am grateful to live and work on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples on the West Coast of Canada.