PERSONAL STATEMENT – JANET EDMONDS
Elements of change
My vessels express ideas of mind and matter. Nature’s structures and rhythms provide the visual expression of the labyrinth of mental storage systems and layers of experience.
Life relies on information and stored knowledge. Experiences are packaged as parcels of information, divided into compartments and layered over time. Fragments of information are filed away in the recesses of the mind for future reference and action.
An idea may lie dormant, but pops into the mind at intervals, creating a train of thought. Random snippets of information may come together to give fresh meaning to old understanding, effecting change.
Cellular structures, so common in nature, contain, enclose, wrap and protect, whether they are animal, vegetable or mineral. They illustrate the idea of inside and outside surfaces relating to different parts of the filing cabinet – open drawers, closed drawers, filled or empty, organized in clusters.
The contemplative process of wrapping recycled cloth to form the compartments describes thinking, rewinding thoughts and information to create new ideas and paths forward, whilst the gathering of cloth condenses or expands ideas.
For further discussion regarding my statement, contact me on janet.edmonds@gmail.com or use my contact form here…
My work has two separate fields of inquiry. the statement above describes what I refer to as my real work, that stuff that comes from the heart and is difficult to define and to realise. The other work is an ongoing love of colour and decoration and the embellishment that is the central focus of embroidery. The two separate zones compliment each other. One is parred back, simplified and made using a neutral palette, the other is bright, colourful and decorative. I have thought long and hard about the connection between the two but have not come to any conclusion apart from the fact that the only aspect that is common is the three dimensional one. I do like to build things, I relish the challenge that this brings to the work and is a hangover from the days when my creative activity was explored in clay. In earlier times when full time work required that I spend a 9 ’til 5 day in a local government office, my creative side was satisfied by immersing myself in ceramics and all its rich diversity.