judith wilson artist

-

Hand-spun paper yarn, cotton thread.

Weaving.

300 x 300mm, framed

-

I took a very old handbook produced for the choir of the Japanese Noh performance of Kagekiyo and spun the pages into a yarn which was then woven. The work is presented in its new, alternate form, unreadable and perhaps unrecognisable but still whole.

-

Paper thread.

Knitting.

300 x 300mm, framed

-

The spiral is one of the oldest patterns recorded by humanity. The symbol is found in art, philosophy and religion as well as magic and the occult and appears in the art of most ancient cultures. It represents nature, the development of life and the opening of consciousness.

Consciousness or awareness is not tangible and therefore has been presented in an ethereal form.

-

Asian paper, ink and cotton yarn.

Hand-spinning, writing, knitting and fringing.

1500 x 4500 mm

-

Even though each one of us is unique, we have a genetic signature that clearly connects us to our ancestors. Each mother contributes 50% of her DNA to her daughters. My mother’s story is contained in the paper yarn that partly enfolds me, contributing to and joining with my story.

-

Paper, ink and cotton yarn.

Hand-spinning, writing and twining.

1060 × 500 mm

Box framed in Natural Oak

-

My father was a gardener by trade as was his father and his grandfather. My genetic signature includes 50% of his DNA and a less, unquantifiable measure of earlier generations. Each “plant” in this symbolic garden is identified as an Australian native.

-

750mm diameter

Silk fabric, silk yarn, paper yarn.

-

In literature and through numerous cultures the Raven is symbolic of either death or transformation.   

This work addresses the duality of that symbolism.  Death is referenced in the shape of a black funeral wreath decorated with Raven feathers (shredded black silk fabric).  The form spirals out from the centre, acknowledging the cycle of life; the rebirth and awakening of awareness, a transformation.

-

Size: 60 x 100cms

Medium: Abaca paper yarn, paper pulp

Price: $450

-

An exploration of the threshold between waking and wandering—those in-between moments where reality loosens its grip and imagination takes over. 

Through layered textures, shifting forms, and suggestive fragments, I aim to evoke the hazy lucidity of the daydream.

–

Asian paper, handmade plant fibre paper, printing ink and embroidery thread.
Joomchi (Korean paper felting), papermaking, intaglio printing, hand stitch.

480 x 500mm, box framed in natural oak

–

Autumn. The leaves on the trees burst into bright colour in a last joyful celebration of life. As they die and drop to feed the soil, the earth quietens and begins to rest. Skeletal tree forms emerge to cast shadows resembling tracks on the ground, leading us on to the next season.

–

Asian paper, fire.

808 x 1150 mm

–

The Australian bush is a master regenerator. Bushfires are an integral part of that process with many of the seeds of native species requiring fire to germinate. This piece is a replication of the cellular structure of timber using fire as the drawing tool. Visually it can also read as rain, another element required for germination and growth.

Budbri’s Dance
SOLD
(top image)

Felted Mulberry paper, writing, knitted, hand spun mulberry paper.
620 x 620mm, box framed in natural oak.

Aunty Fran (Frances Bodkin) who is a knowledge holder of the D’harawal people kindly gave permission to use the Dreamtime story, Budbri Learns to Dance: The Story of how the Lyrebird taught the People to Dance, which was incorporated into the piece titled Budbri’s Dance. The story was transposed onto handmade paper, cut, spun and knitted then sewn to the felted paper.

-

Courtship
(middle image)

Felted Mulberry paper, writing, knitted, hand spun mulberry paper.
620 x 620mm, box framed in natural oak.

Details of the Superb Lyrebird’s courtship ritual were transposed onto handmade mulberry paper which was cut and spun into yarn then knitted.

-

Fantale
(bottom image)

560 x 560mm, box framed in natural oak.
Knitted hand spun mulberry paper embedded in paper pulp.

–

The fibre pieces contain both written and visual information about the Lyrebird using the crafting techniques of papermaking, felting, spinning and knitting paper.

-

-

1200H x 1000W x 10mmD

Knitted paper thread.

-

What is the nature of reality? Is life a dream?  It is transient, impermanent, as are all ‘things’.  Like waves washing onto the shore and retreating back to the ocean, so is the cycle of life.

–

Print – Photopolymer Intaglio

460 x 460mm white box frame

–

The print plates were developed from abstracted photographs taken in Garigal National Park and depict a habitat of the Superb Lyrebird.

–

Knitted, hand-spun dressmaking pattern tissue paper

–

Our perception of time is constantly changing and it seems we spend most of our time trying to save time, causing ourselves considerable stress.  In this work I sought the health benefits of slowing time by returning to the traditional craft techniques of spinning and knitting, returning to the present via the past. I also acknowledged the crafter in my choice of material, recycled dressmaking and embroidery tissue.

The (knitted) loop becomes a metaphor for life, and the process and material a means of connecting the present with the past, the end with the beginning.  This connection is also a principle of Zen Buddhist philosophy, the Zen circle or ensõ being a sacred symbol of infinity.

Not for sale

–

Print – Photopolymer Intaglio
300mm x 300mm (unframed), 460mm x 460mm (framed)

–
The images for these prints were developed from photographs of circular pieces  knitted from yarn I had produced by spinning strips of dressmaking pattern tissue.  Production of these pieces was an exploration of the link between traditional crafting processes in contemporary art and the current societal trend to slowing down and focusing on the present; being centered. 

The circular form acknowledges the fact that the present is informed by the past.

–

Felted mulberry paper (Joomchi) and handspun paper yarn.

– 

A visual representation of the layered structure of bones at the microscopic level.  Hand-spun paper yarn was used to ‘mend’ some of the holes referencing the surgical process of suturing cuts and bones ability to heal itself by growing new cells.

–

Photo transfers on silk in embroidery hoops

– 

We use text to record information and emotions, as we cannot rely on memory alone.  Even though we often do not re-read what we have written, there is comfort in the process of writing.

The words I have written are important only to my son and me.  I have burned them into visual memories using an inverted form of Braille.  The pieces are presented in the Braille form of the word ‘son’.

“Thought is a thread, and a racounter is a spinner of yarns – but the true storyteller, the poet, is a weaver……After long practice, their work took on such an even flexible texture that they called the written page a textus, which means cloth” (R. Bringhurst, The Elements of Typographic Style)

Using a Korean technique I made yarn from the pages of an antique Japanese account book.  These books, including the papers are handmade, often of recycled mulberry paper and contain inked handwritten characters.

I then wove this yarn on a hand-made loom using a red thread as the warp.

This piece is displayed on an antique Japanese bobbin.

–

Collograph Print
Inspired by visit to New Zealand

Not for sale

-

Wire and magazine paper.

SOLD

-

A scarf can be a fashion accessory and a weapon.

I have used wire as a base because it can be both a form of protection and a weapon. Fashion is referenced through the use of strips of paper sourced from a Vogue fashion magazine which have been joined and twisted around the wire. The ‘yarn’ has then been knitted into a scarf with the ‘fabric’ exposed in places to accentuate the contradictory light and lethal nature of the material

–

Eucalyptus and metal dye on recycled silk
95x80cms

 –

Is the story of dependence, nurturing and loss, represented through the empty nest, cocoon and seed pod.

The three ‘veils’ of polyvoile digitally printed with images from drawings of the cell structures of plants, reference life and the memory of the parent plant.

Not for sale

I am interested in the way science informs art practice. 

What is often referred to as the secret code is the formula or geometry that is at the core of nature.  We are living organisms, a conglomerate of cells put together in a certain way based on an unknown formula. 

In this work I have used stitching and colour to represent life at the cellular level. Orderly layers, pattern and repetition reference the healthy organism while disorder or disease is referenced by breaks in the pattern.

Sold

–

Rust dyed silk and antique Kimono portion over antique Japanese screen

NOT FOR SALE

 –

The journey through usefulness leaves imprints on the surface, be they scars, lines, tears or wrinkles and the ‘fabric’ of the body holds a memory of all of its experience.  Even as the fibres that are at the core of the body become distressed and begin to break down, a new life begins.  Finally free from the need to be useful, the new life becomes purely a celebration of the body’s inherent beauty.

–

Print – Photopolymer Intaglio and Embossing
300mm x 300mm (unframed), 460mm x 460mm (framed)

 –

An exploration of cellular structures and patterns in nature.  I am interested in life at the microscopic level; looking at the basic elements of existence. 

In this work I have incorporated drawing and photographic techniques in developing the imagery.  Drawings of the cellular structure of trees transferred onto photographic paper using Liquid Light have been integrated using Photoshop processes with my photos of bare tree branches.