Applications

I've been a bit busy the past couple of weeks with various applications and proposals. Most of these applications have had variations of the same works, or at least the same types of work, mostly hair weavings. I'm still working on some textiles made with old socks, but mainly out of an interest in using all the material that I have rather than an overwhelming desire to keep using socks. I am eager to make new hair textiles, but am trying to also finish some paintings I've started, then use up a number of canvases and panels on some new painting projects, THEN get back to some hair weavings. I guess the most high-profile application was for an Australia Council New Works Grant of $10,000. I got the application in at 11:46pm on Friday, with a midnight deadline. The grants are very competitive, and heaven knows I deserve one, but there would have been hundreds of applications, so chances are probably slim for getting one. My proposal for this grant was to buy my own loom, and then work on a new series of much larger hair weavings with more complex patterns and weave structures. I gave examples of past work including the large sock installation I Am Because We Are, plus a variety of past hair weavings, some of which I've shown here before:






The sock installation shows that I'm able to work on a large scale, and the hair weavings show a variety of textile structures, size and patterning.

The Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award entries also closed last week. I showed four works for consideration: the kimono from the installation above, a new sock weaving work based on African kente cloth traditions, The Devil's Cloth series, and a panel from the Six Degrees series:







Kente cloth is made by weaving narrow strips of often (usually? always?) striped cloth, and then sewing the strips together to make a larger textile. Mine is still a work in progress as the strips have not yet been sewn together.

I've also put in an application for a show with Margarita Sampson at Craft Victoria in Melbourne. This is for a show in 2010. I've proposed an exhibition of The Devil's Cloth series, and the Violence, Abjection and Ecstasy series (all of which can be seen in this post):