It Takes a Village by Joan Diamond

 It Takes a Village by Joan Diamond

Recently I was thrilled to learn of my acceptance into the World of Threads Festival 2023.  My artwork is an installation piece, consisting of 10 "pods" as I call them, suspended from the ceiling.

The Festival is in Canada, and I made what was for me a 9 hour trip to assist with the installation.  It was awesome to watch it materialize.  I'm so happy to have been able to help, even though for safety they didn't want me to climb a ladder or help with the SkyJack (looked like good driving fun!).

After a long day of fussing with thread lengths the art work was finally hung.  So exciting!  As you can see from the first picture, there are small circles on the floor, below the pods. These circles each encase a small pile of seeds from the monster River Birch tree that lives in my backyard. About a week into the show I got an unexpected email from the promoters. Oh dear! People are walking through the sculpture, and consequently walking the seeds throughout the building.  Building management is most unhappy about this! 

The curators, with their first rate attention to any and all details that crop up were on it.  Look at the most elegant, creative solution they came up with!  

I told them they did me a favor.  Going forward, now, somehow I will have to come up with my own risers to include with the piece, as now that I've seen it with the risers,  I can't "unsee" it!! The risers created a visual boundary that has accomplished the goal of preventing traffic thru the art, and in the process, made it even better. No tape lines on the floor; no rope barricade fencing off the art and creating a "belt" at its midpoint. Thank you management for your concerns!

Same spot, but different views: 

From this.               To this.

"It Helps Sometimes To Take the Long View" by Joan Diamond

  “It Helps Sometimes To Take the Long View” is my piece that has been juried into Studio Montclair’s upcoming exhibit called ViewPoints.   The show runs April 23-May 27, 2022. You’re in luck:  the opening is today! 3:00-5:00 p.m.  And if you come you will be treated to the talents of 51 participating artists.   In case you live far from NJ, below I’ve included the artist statement which  accompanies this piece and will explain more to you about the work.

2021. Wool, Silk Noil, Silk Organza, Acid Dyes, Single Use Plastic Bags, Thread. 52"H x 48"W

Like tectonic plates shifting earth’s features, lockdown imposed a paradigm shift in the ordinariness of reality.  Globally, collectively, our nests of normalcy shape shifted, morphed by deadly contagion, violent storms effacing landscapes born centuries ago, and twenty six million refugees seeking shelter in other lands.  Science drew its blood along political fronts.

This backdrop of chaos, isolation, and uncertainty caused me to reconsider my own complacency, my ideas about things precious, and, of loss: of loved ones, but also loss of culture and landscape. The title of this piece references a healing prayer by Shamanistic teacher don Oscar Milo-Quesada.  

Shibori is a technique with which dye records the shape and pressure placed upon a cloth that has been manipulated-crumpled, squeezed, folded, etc.  It is a process akin to the recording of forming geology in that the agents of change are memorialized. Shibori seems an appropriate visual metaphor for the thing that is bigger than our lifetimes:  the passage of time.  Working with what was on hand in the studio, mountain ranges, plastic, and timeless Shibori mix to ask:  are we mindful enough of what we hold dear? 

Detail