If you've been following my posts since the beginning of this blog, you'll know over the last 7 months, I've been struggling to define myself as an artist, and even whether should call myself an artist at all. I've done two activities recently that have helped me in this struggle.
First, as a requirement for a class, I was required to design myself a business card. I've been struggling with how to define myself as an artist, so what would I put on a business card? Textile Artist? No, so much more is incorporated into my work than just textile, and some of my pieces don't have any actual textile at all. So I changed it to Fiber Artist. I didn't feel comfortable with that either-it seemed to negate the other items I use so frequently in my work, like clay! And so I pondered what I could call myself that I could live with, just to get the necessary task done. Then one night I attended a lecture by artist, Karen Goetzinger. Her work? Mixed Media Textiles! We've already discussed why I can't use "textiles" as a descriptor of my work, but Mixed Media Fibers seemed like a perfectly safe option. And so it is, I am a Mixed Media Fiber Artist. It must be true, my business cards say so!
The completing of a business card that I can happily live with was a big relief, but then came the task of writing an "artist statement". Artist statement? Hum, a piece of writing to explain my work as an artist, how and why I create? My personal philosophy of my own art? That was a tough one. I knew that statement had to be meaningful, but for someone who doesn't view her own work as meaningful what is there to write? I put the task off for a month. I thought about it daily. I went about my art projects as always. I complete my other class assignments with as much dedication as I always give to them. I was told to, "just make it up" and to, "write it as if it were about another person who's work you do admire". Maybe those suggestions work for some people, but I was not about to write a fictitious account. I couldn't do that and then stand up in front of my class and read a statement, without any conviction. Maybe I can't explain me as an artist, but I do know that every word that comes out of my mouth is always what I truly believe.
Sitting down this morning, I asked myself, "are you an artist?" The answer, "I hope so". So I wrote. I wrote because it was the last chance I had to write before presenting to the class this afternoon. More over, I wrote because I realized that I had come to a point where I had to either say I AM an artist, or define what other important title I am to have in this. After the phrases I am a daughter, a sister and a mother. After that there was nothing else that came to mind other than artist. The very moment I realized that my passion and obsession was with creating my art and my life would not be fulfilled if I stopped. Below is my artist statement. Someone else read it out loud today, and that gave me the chance to listen to it as if it belonged to someone else. I couldn't be more pleased with it. I am content with every word, and truly believe it represents my body of work. It's completion has given me validation and focus to my job as artist. I now feel like I have permission to go forward and create the things I am compelled to.
Artist Statement: Jennifer Gordon
My artistic spirit developed early in life and was nurtured by the talented women living in the small towns of Eastern Canada in which I was raised. I first learned the skill of cross stitch from my mother, and was then taught other embroidery techniques from the local women who loved them. Lessons in other needle crafts and sewing followed, all giving me the foundation on which to stitch my creative future.
Though awe inspired by the closeness and friendships in these groups of stitching women, I soon became uninterested in constantly repeating the same techniques. Unmoved to work from the same patterns and create the same designs that all the other women had completed, I stopped stitching and moved on to other endeavors. I explored pottery, ceramics, painting, and beadwork. These activities gave me the sense of original creativity that I was seeking, but didn’t give me the same pleasure as working with needle and thread.
Years later, and entirely by chance, I stumbled upon a group women making “fiber art”. It was here I learned that all the techniques I knew could be combined without the restriction of patterns and rules to follow. That first meeting set my artistic self free.
No longer feeling confined by a set of rules, my pieces often combine cloth, clay and stitch. I am inspired by structural form, in both its 2 and 3 dimensional aspects. Furthermore, I am intrigued by the way subtle differences in texture and colour lend themselves to the overall feel of an item. Attention to small and sometimes unnoticeable detail is important in overall design. Hand embroidery is the technique most dear to my heart- I feel each carefully shaped and placed stitch imparts the sense of personal reflection that I strive for each work to portray. With the belief that machine stitching doesn’t give the same personal feel to my art, most finished pieces bare many hours of hand stitching and embroidery.
Many of my designs were inspired by the legends and lore of the places I have lived in or travelled to, as well as by aspects of the people who have influenced my life. I create for my personal satisfaction, but hope each piece of art will resound with something in the viewer’s soul as well.
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