Magellanic Cloud

Laura: The fragility of the white bowl structure seemed to warrant a delicate touch. It was stronger than I first thought, but I was still aware of its vulnerability. The circular dream catcher seemed like something repaired, fixed and made better in the mending. I decided to draw blind contour figures of older women from imagination on the interior of the bowl. Here I thought to bring about the idea of uniqueness (no two blind contours are ever the same), experience and strength of character.  I saw those as the key factors in what we all bring to the project. Originally, I planned to draw them right onto the white bowl, but my hand and pen would not flow properly at such an angle, so I changed to drawings on rice paper which I then collaged onto the surface.  I spent time deciding on the number and placement of the figures, as space needed to be left for others to contribute.

Anne:

Loretta: At this point, the piece needed only a couple of light touches to bring it to a conclusion. Echoing the colours and lines of the embroidery thread and ink drawing, I wanted to add cohesion by drawing a border around the inner edge of the vessel, incorporating the spiral motif of the embroidery. The border includes 5 sections, each of a different colour and containing 5 spirals, in reference to the 5 creators of the artwork. After much reflection, I decided to close the empty gap and continue the border with a thin piece of gold wire, forming an eye by adding a button matching those on the opposite side, sent to me by Anne with the piece. With the eye I aimed to echo the eyes of the drawn figures, and to balance, answer, or ‘look back at,’ the spiral on the opposite side.