"The Silk"

 

"The Silk" is also called the "fascia", it is a layer of skin under the rest of the skin that acts as a sack; keeping muscles, nerves and tendons around the skeleton. "The 8 Strands of silk" are a set of Chi Gung movements working specifically with the silk.

In this installation I explored my own relationship with the silk in my body. The desire to be free from the human shell, whilst admiring the intricacy and delicacy of the mechanism that is the human body.

The installation was created using 16 metres of grey silk, cut into 4 long strips of 8 metres. These were suspended from almost ceiling height in the huge church of St Matthews, in Worthing, where "The Silk" was exhibited. 4 plain grey face masks without expression were placed underneath the material on the floor.  I wrote a haiku, that I had composed specifically, onto glass using pva glue, so that when it was dry it was clear on clear.

 

The weight of nothing

Stops waiting for wind to move;

Absorbs anchored air.

 

This was placed behind the strips of silk, adding another layer of transparency to the piece.

White feathers were tied with grey ribbon. These were placed around the silk and near the altar behind the silk. I wrote the lines of the haiku onto tracing paper with chalk and scattered these near the masks.

This piece was my most personal work yet, reflecting where I am with my health, but it was open enough for other interpretations. It is important that people can bring themselves into my work, and so I am careful not to exclude other peoples' emotions whilst expressing my own. It was uplifting to watch the silk moving gently in the air currents in the church.