experimental textiles

Reaching for the Moon

| Suzanne
Suzanne Davey, Reaching for the Moon , curtains, thread, metal,  makeup, paint,  280 x 160 x 110cm
Suzanne Davey, Reaching for the Moon , curtains, thread, metal,  makeup, paint,  280 x 160 x 110cm
 
Gazing through a domestic lens our understanding of the world beyond is both revealed and concealed through ebbs and flows of knowledge. Reaching for the Moon reflects upon the complexities of our interrelationships with spaces and how cultural and social perspectives transform our experience of place.  
 
Vintage curtains and their metaphorical associations with the discarded, the everyday, the body and gender are utilised to investigate the phenomena of viewpoint. Constructive and destructive making traditions examine tensions between the visible and the felt, interior and exterior space, social realities and romantic ideals that influence our perception and knowledge of our worlds.  
 
The moon is often cast as a cultural mirror upon which we project notions of hope, aspirational dreams, escape, utopia, spirituality, quests for discovery or a desire for universal conquest. It’s a talisman that connects us all but we also experience it differently, depending on our cultural and social veiwpoint. Gazing upwards at the sky our concept of the moon never wanders too far from the worlds we know best.
 
 
 
 
 

Rise and Fall

| Suzanne
Suzanne Davey, Rise and Fall, textile, metal, ink, 180cm x 130cm x 40cm

Rise and Fall is a textile work created in response to recent political storms and to the rise of the right internationally.  It wafts and wanes in the slightest breeze. Exhibited in Four Elements: Water, Creative Space.

Suzanne Davey, Rise and Fall, textile, metal, ink, 180cm x 130cm x 40cm

Statement:

Tides rise and fall, waves rise and fall, storms rise up….. and fall away.
Water rises and falls with its own agency and we rise and fall in its wake.
 
The rhythms of ocean systems mirror social and political storms we face now; the rise of the right and political aggression and the resultant flows of people in the wake of these surges.
 
Webs of crossings and traversing, flows and networks of social relations, our fragility in the face of storms and the constancy of change are investigated through textiles. Utilising the language of sails and flags time and human action is made visible as the surface is ripped, pierced, punctured, repaired and stained and new connections are made.
 
Together with water we rise and fall, face change and unknown futures.