Floating Boundaries

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Artist: Joan Diamond

Title: Floating Boundaries

Attribution: Floating Boundaries, 2019, Joan Diamond

Year: 2019

Materials: Silk, Procion dye, discharge, machine and hand stitch, embroidery floss

Dimensions: 46"H x 40.5"W

Image Statement: Nearly finished with the printing of this piece, attempts to remove a well adhered stencil with my fingers failed. A pointy object, a moment of inattention, and just like that a hole was born dead center. Being silk it unraveled mercilessly. In spite of attempts to befriend the hole I was beset with irritation and disappointment. I decided I could cut it out and set about making mock-ups on paper how the piece would look with a seam in it, then with more seams, until finally, the seams became the story. Broken imagery anchored thru stitch is a far cry from elements of weightlessness, the original intention. the cup shaped stitching refers to a sense of fractured containment, like the images. I struggled about the border, feeling that conforming to a conventional rectangle wasn't right. In the spirit of the piece I kept the edges raw, unraveling some (with great intentional pleasure!) even further.