Patti Smith quote – hannalie taute

Once upon a time I received a stuffed monkey from my brother in law. The monkey reminded me of a Tori Amos song called “Bliss”

and so: “Father I killed my monkey” (2015 version) was born :

….it was a piece where I experimented with stretching the rubber like a canvas and using oil paint straight onto the rubber as well….

but not feeling totally satisfied, I reworked it, covering the oil paint with thread yet again:

Now in 2019, I am invited to show work at the Hermanus Fine Arts Festival which starts on the 7th of June 2019.

33 South-African artists working with textile/fiber were invited with a brief to come up with work inspired by ‘music’ for the group exhibition titled: Shades and tones.

Not feeling satisfied with “Father I killed my monkey” I decided to ‘kill the monkey’ and rework it again. This time using Madonna as a starting point for this music-themed exhibition, not because I am a fan (I still prefer to listen to Tori) but because I admire how Madonna has always pushed the boundaries. I decided to focus on two songs from her early work, and use it as titles for these:

detail Like a Virgin

Like a virgin (2019) 106 x 70 cm Cotton thread and rubber

Like a prayer

Since on the subject of ‘music’….I would like to leave you with this quote from Patti Smith:

“That’s what artists do, that’s what poets do…we all do it. We start with something, and sometimes we destroy everything that we’ve made in order to get to the core place where we started from.”

Ah, well into the month of March and since March was named after the Roman God of war, I thought this picture with a toy gun is appropriate, (not that I am a fan of war) but as Alice Walker wrote in the book: The Colour Purple: “A grown child is a dangerous thing”

In the studio I am “fighting” with unfinished pieces, admin and time.

I recently had an encounter with a beautiful animal (seal) when I went for my daily swim in the Goukou river and afterwards a friend told me that I should regard it as a sign to “go with the flow.” So while I concentrate on going with the flow…I’d like to tell you about some exciting things that’s coming up in the next 3 months:

1….

“Stitched” (part 1) a group show is opening on the 24th of March at the Paradigm gallery in Philadelphia USA! Three of my works will be shown alongside some amazing artists using embroidery and stitching techniques in their work. It’s the first time that my work will be seen in the USA and I am super excited to be included in this show.

*Please contact sara@paradigm-gallery.com if you would like to be on the digital collector preview list for this exhibition.*

2…

In April I will be participating in “A Visual Requiem for Judith Mason” a travelling group exhibition..

….a tribute to celebrate the art and life of Judith Mason who sadly passed away earlier this year.

3….

For the month of May: I am in the process of getting my work ready to ship it to the Netherlands for the Rijswijk Textile Biennial 2017!

I will post some images of the work soon, but for now I’d like to leave you with this quote by Patti Smith from her book: Just Kids, which I finished reading over the weekend:

“In my low periods, I wondered what was the point of creating art. For whom? Are we animating God? Are we talking to ourselves? And what was the ultimate goal? To have one’s work caged in art’s great zoo’s – The Modern, The Met, The Louvre?

I craved honesty, yet found dishonesty in myself. Why commit to art? For self-realisation, or for itself? It seem indulgent to add to the glut unless one offered illumination…..

I wondered if anything I did mattered…..?

Robert (Mapplethorpe) had little patience with these introspective bouts of mine. He never seemed to question his artistic drives, and by his example I understood that what matters is the work: The string of words propelled by God becoming a poem, the weave of colour and graphite scrawled upon the sheet that magnifies His motion. To achieve within the work perfect balance of faith and execution. From this state of mind comes a light, life charged”