Here is a tapestry I finished yesterday, provisionally titled 'read'. I am on square number 13 of the overlap piece but I felt a strong need to get something started, finished, mounted and framed.
8 years ago my son was born and not long afterwards my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. From then on there was a symmetry between them, one growing, learning, becoming himself - the other forgetting, withdrawing, fading away to an unreachable place. Much of what I have made in recent years has been a response to this.
Quite early on my Dad lost the ability to read but he would still sit and turn the pages of the newspaper, go through the motions, looking blankly at the abstract, meaningless marks on the page. In 'read' the central panel is a randomly chosen word with the edges cropped off the letters. It's kind of familiar but not quite legible. My father was in a familiar but not quite comprehensible place for years.
4 comments:
this is such a beautiful piece. thank you for sharing the story behind it with such honesty.
Meabh,my son is now 10 and my mother was also diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease not long after his birth. It is sad to loose someone that you love in the sense that you have known them only to become a new personality. I think that making art is a strong way of dealing with loss and I admire your new tapestry and hope that the healing continues for you. Debbie,
Such beautiful work.
I love everything that you do.
What a beautiful piece! And a lovely (if sad) story. My grandmother had Alzheimer's too and it is so very difficult. It is wonderful you are able to create something lovely out of such a hard time.
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