Everything natural inspires fibre artist
Artwork created and coloured from nothing more than nature is currently on display at a Hawera gallery.
‘‘Everything is a natural fibre, there’s no synthetic fibres, there’s no synthetic colours, it’s all natural it’s all from a natural source plants - there’s no animals,’’ fibre artist Viv Davy said.
O¯ pu¯ nake-based Davy is exhibiting her natural works at an exhibition called The State of Play: Exploratory Makings at the Lysaght Watt Gallery in Ha¯ wera.
She has a range of art on display that she prepared specifically for the exhibition this year.
‘‘This is work that I’ve done based on my engagement with the South Taranaki environment,’’ Davy said. ‘‘So it’s all centred on responding to the landscape and the ocean and the wind and all those things.’’
Davy first got involved in fibre art because she wanted to weave. Her inspiration for this exhibition was the district.
‘‘South Taranaki is my inspiration - it’s wonderful and wild, always changing and full of energy.
‘‘The light is very special and the colours are very special.’’
Davy has used everything from naturally dried silk, to cotton, to thread and more for materials. Then leaves, fennel, roses, copper and more to colour the works.
‘‘All the pigments in all of the work in this exhibition have been created from local plants,’’ she said.
One of Davy’s newest experiments is a series of books.
The blank books are created and stitched together. They’re made from wool, cotton, linen and ‘‘everything under the sun really,’’ Davy said. ‘‘Each page is different, each page is a piece of art in its own right.’’
A few of her pieces are inspired by spring.
‘‘The new growth and the soft colours that happen in spring time so those are all the colours derived from flowers,’’ she said.
She said these works were quite different from what she has exhibited in the past.
Davy will be giving an artists talk on Saturday October 14 at 11am and the public is welcome to attend. She will talk about her inspirations and processes that she uses to create her works.
The exhibition is on display in the gallery on Union Street until October 28. The next exhibition at the Lysaght Watt Gallery is called Floral Affair and on until November 5. It coincides with the Taranaki Garden Festival.