It is hard to feel optimistic after Cop26. Why is everyone still thinking about their own self-interest when the ship is sinking? I have nothing to add to this as everything I want to say has been said by activists, like Greta, and by scientists and artists (mainly Kim Stanley Robinson in his amazing book “Ministry for the Future”). And so I continue to put pencil and brush and ink to paper and work. As the summer wraps up and I get back in the rhythm of working I found myself wanting to return to using the half-penny dolls in my art. There is something about the tangle of these small fabric and thread doll house dolls that captures the current state of humanity. It helps that mixed in with dolls of mothers, fathers, grandparents and children are ambulance drivers and firemen.
As mentioned in my previous post I have hoped to reference Dante’s vision of an eagle made up of souls by combining the dolls and the angels. It has lead to experimentation with paint and drawing as I play around with the dolls on my table. Interspersed with periods where they are collected and the table is cleared and Roen is here playing with them. At 3 she loves them so much that her mother and I went on a quest to buy more. But alas they are no longer being made.
This week I added my origami into the mix. And as I was painting my husband sent me an image of a desert in Chile that is covered with discarded clothing from our fast fashion culture. The photograph resonated with my doll paintings which in a way capture how capitalism is basically just eating people up and discarding them.
The Desert in Chile covered with discarded clothing from around the world.