Calm seas song of summer
I am drawn to the beauty and history of antique sheet music. A lover of literature, I discover much of it in used book stores and flea markets. To me it seems to contain so much love but also speaks of being abandoned and obsolete. I yearned to find new ways to give it life again. I have always been a recycler. I look to use the smallest thing and transform it with effort and care into something whimsical, magical, poetic. To me, each sheet of music is a window into another time and place, with its own unique story and cultural significance. It always speaks of the power music has to celebrate complex thought and art through sound, printed word and playful patterns. My work celebrates this rich heritage while also exploring the ways in which music can serve as a universal language that brings people together and brings to people the opportunity for healing.
My sculptures and two dimensional paper paintings are a mixture of styles and techniques. I am weaving papier-mâché together with mosaic and collage techniques. Having worked in many other mediums such as metal and clay there were ways I wanted the paper to yield shapes and patterns. I have been influenced by my multicultural and multilingual musical background and the many places and people I have encountered throughout my life.
My archive was added to in recent years by the donation of a beautiful boxful of player piano reels dating from 1920-1955. They were a new and very different music paper for me to integrate into my musical tapestries. My experiments with the various musical papers have left me feeling like an explorer in unknown, unchartered territory. This feeling coupled with my ever increasingly varied musical samplings makes me feel like a musical Astronaut. I felt compelled to make a series of portraits that celebrates this, my love of the great women of music, my deep love of textiles, my astonishing musical archive and the expansive feeling of constant discovery. Using the paper as both a sculpting and painting tool in this series has been exciting and challenging. The complex patterns from my musical archive contrast with moments of calm contemplation.
Each song only provides a small amount of colour or pattern so it is the layering of many pieces that makes it sing a song of tapestry and textile. The honey browns in the headdress are from 1936 and 1942. On her left are massive margins from a massive book from 1802 with gilt edges, donated to my archive many years ago (and I haven’t used even 5% of it so far, 16 years later). The discolouration here is due to the etchings being sown in before they were completely free of moisture. Some of the articulations in her headdress and gown are cut from the etchings in this same tome (the 9 tomes are the collected works of Shakespeare, printed at the Shakespeare press 1802 and measure 13”X17”x3” each). The calm white paper with a caramel edge on her right is from a song folio from 1857. The earrings have many lines of paper with gilt edges and date from 1890, the decorative whimsy around them is from a song printed for the Witmark Choral Library in 1896. The iridescent decorative oval above it is from a piece call “Musical Bouquet”, a very early example of two colour printing from 1887.
This work now connects me to all those who kept their music archive, to you and to all future folk that encounter it because they will do a visual dance of discovery, and so musical magic is made once more. I give profound thanks to all those who have contributed to my musical archive and support my work and artistic experimentation.
universal language of healing. I believe that art and art making has the power to heal and transform. Music, like visual art, is a language that transcends cultural and linguistic barriers, and I'm fascinated by the ways in which it can bring people together and create a sense of shared experience and understanding. Through my works, I hope to encourage viewers to embrace the beauty, diversity of different eras these papers come from and to recognize the common love of music humanity has always had. It is also a way to acknowledge and welcome our ancestors back into our hearts.
This sculptural paper painting is a way for me to navigate complicated waters with love, respect for all people and gratitude for healing, honouring the great love I have for this music in my every atom. rcyc
I am drawn to the beauty and history of antique sheet music. A lover of literature, I discover much of it in used book stores and flea markets. To me it seems to contain so much love but also speaks of being abandoned and obsolete. I yearned to find new ways to give it life again. I have always been a recycler. I look to use the smallest thing and transform it with effort and care into something whimsical, magical, poetic. To me, each sheet of music is a window into another time and place, with its own unique story and cultural significance. It always speaks of the power music has to celebrate complex thought and art through sound, printed word and playful patterns. My work celebrates this rich heritage while also exploring the ways in which music can serve as a universal language that brings people together and brings to people the opportunity for healing.
My sculptures and two dimensional paper paintings are a mixture of styles and techniques. I am weaving papier-mâché together with mosaic and collage techniques. Having worked in many other mediums such as metal and clay there were ways I wanted the paper to yield shapes and patterns. I have been influenced by my multicultural and multilingual musical background and the many places and people I have encountered throughout my life.
My archive was added to in recent years by the donation of a beautiful boxful of player piano reels dating from 1920-1955. They were a new and very different music paper for me to integrate into my musical tapestries. My experiments with the various musical papers have left me feeling like an explorer in unknown, unchartered territory. This feeling coupled with my ever increasingly varied musical samplings makes me feel like a musical Astronaut. I felt compelled to make a series of portraits that celebrates this, my love of the great women of music, my deep love of textiles, my astonishing musical archive and the expansive feeling of constant discovery. Using the paper as both a sculpting and painting tool in this series has been exciting and challenging. The complex patterns from my musical archive contrast with moments of calm contemplation.
Each song only provides a small amount of colour or pattern so it is the layering of many pieces that makes it sing a song of tapestry and textile. The honey browns in the headdress are from 1936 and 1942. On her left are massive margins from a massive book from 1802 with gilt edges, donated to my archive many years ago (and I haven’t used even 5% of it so far, 16 years later). The discolouration here is due to the etchings being sown in before they were completely free of moisture. Some of the articulations in her headdress and gown are cut from the etchings in this same tome (the 9 tomes are the collected works of Shakespeare, printed at the Shakespeare press 1802 and measure 13”X17”x3” each). The calm white paper with a caramel edge on her right is from a song folio from 1857. The earrings have many lines of paper with gilt edges and date from 1890, the decorative whimsy around them is from a song printed for the Witmark Choral Library in 1896. The iridescent decorative oval above it is from a piece call “Musical Bouquet”, a very early example of two colour printing from 1887.
This work now connects me to all those who kept their music archive, to you and to all future folk that encounter it because they will do a visual dance of discovery, and so musical magic is made once more. I give profound thanks to all those who have contributed to my musical archive and support my work and artistic experimentation.
universal language of healing. I believe that art and art making has the power to heal and transform. Music, like visual art, is a language that transcends cultural and linguistic barriers, and I'm fascinated by the ways in which it can bring people together and create a sense of shared experience and understanding. Through my works, I hope to encourage viewers to embrace the beauty, diversity of different eras these papers come from and to recognize the common love of music humanity has always had. It is also a way to acknowledge and welcome our ancestors back into our hearts.
This sculptural paper painting is a way for me to navigate complicated waters with love, respect for all people and gratitude for healing, honouring the great love I have for this music in my every atom. rcyc