I have been working with Jen Cooper since
we were officially paired around mid February. This so far has been an
interesting collaboration as we have never met. Jen lives in Australia and I
live in Ireland. At first I wondered how this could possibly work as I’m more
of a ‘communicate face to face’ type of person.
To begin Jen emailed me her
personal theories and ideas about the project which I must admit left me a
little confused. However after a few back and forth emails and questions about
specific words, things became a little clearer. The more I read, the more I
began to understand. I did this however by interpreting her words so that they
made sense inside my head. As an artist I always need to have a clear
visualisation in order for me to gain any meaning. I wondered if this was the
‘right’ thing to do? Leaving things open
to interpretation can often result in missing the point but then I also started
to feel that if this project was going to have any large scale impact, the
individual should have the freedom to take or reject whatever they feel is
necessary.
Jen spoke about ‘The Human Equilibrium’ and how this human impact
would affect the environment’s ability to adapt to change. As a result of this
the ecosystems we rely on are changing rapidly. I began to think about this in
relation to my lacework. Lace can only be constructed using specific systems or
techniques. These techniques were developed many centuries ago. In fact it is
argued that fishing nets were the first examples of lacework and it was the
fishermen who passed the technique to the lacemakers who re-created it in minute
detail. These techniques are currently in danger of becoming obsolete. There
are currently about 6 lacemakers, including myself practicing Kenmare Lace- a
regional needlepoint technique from Southwest Ireland. It seems fitting that I
should be exploring ideas regarding marine ecosystems using a process which
derived from the creation of fishermens’ nets! I began to think about patterns
for lace ecosystems….here’s what I came up with so far….
By Fiona Harrington
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