growing health by design: All That Glitters Is Not Gold

I've just returned from installing another piece of artwork in Woodstock, VT!

This show is located at the King Farm, just down the road from and considered to be a expansion of the SculptureFest Exhibit. This show, curated by ECO-Visions is called "Intersections: Our Natural and Synthetic Worlds".

My piece is a re-purposed woven willow sheep. With synthetic fleece and a wee bit of 'bling' ie glittery fabric added.

all that glitters is not gold...

The meaning behind that saying is: the attractive external appearance of something is not a reliable indication of its true nature.

This piece is my interpretation of the way today’s society/culture views beauty, both in a general sense and specifically pertaining to women. We live in a world where ‘natural’ is often thought synonymous with ‘less than’ and ‘undesirable’. Synthetic -whether we are talking about fibers, containers or bodies- is promoted as better, beautiful and desirable.

The overall structure of Rose, the sheep is woven from willow. Natural, flexible, strong, sustainable. It has a long life cycle but will (even if well cared for) eventually disintegrate, providing kindling for a fire or nourishment for microorganisms in the compost pile. The juxtaposition of synthetic fleece pieces tied to the willow sheep is first, intended to make you laugh. Then, to think about how often women feel compelled to hide their natural selves underneath designer clothing, make-up, plastic surgery…

The fleece fabric I used is covered with Disney princesses. I’ll let you personally assign your own meaning to that. And the purple glittery fabric? Well. Of course… all that glitters is not gold. Sometimes it’s purple!

and a few other pics from the show...

a very cool musical instrument by Jeff Levison!!

and, by Ethan Ames- torches... my word, not necessarily his. The clam shell makes a place for a tea light candle. I think Ethan installed upwards of 500 of these along the paths on the 2 adjacent SculptureFest properties and we had a candle lighting along the field path at dusk on Saturday-it is amazing how much light a single tea light gives... with the entire pathway lit it was impressive.