Myra gilbert - heart rug
A year ago Myra felt confident that her recent series of artworks, involving domestic childhood references, would be ideally suited to the theme of “Home”. That was until October 2022, when she was deeply struck by the loss of her husband. Whereas ‘home’ had always meant an emotionally safe place happily shared, the new reality suggested a new and very different context for her creative work. Seeking solace in familiar repetitive work became an ongoing therapeutic process that helped her come to terms with missing her husband. This work represents a reply to a handwritten message he wrote in his last Valentine card to her:
‘There will come a time when my love for you could appear to be a memory, but I promise you this,
with each and every kiss, my love for you will last for ever and ever more.’
In rewriting this text as a mantra, the artist felt she could celebrate their relationship and it helped her to cope with her newly-bereaved state of mind. She turned to her favourite gampi tissue paper to make her delicate ‘hearth rug’. Her aim was to express how fragile life can be.
She wrote using her own hand-mixed inks in four faded colours reminiscent of old sepia documents. She sewed mainly by hand with silk sewing thread to construct tissue text fringes on a rag cotton paper base. She chose the circular form to suggest a ‘home’ setting in reference to domestic textiles, but the central hole was hollowed out to form a wreath-like tribute to her husband.
Medium: gampi tissue, rag cotton paper and ink
Dimensions: 60 x 60 cm
‘There will come a time when my love for you could appear to be a memory, but I promise you this,
with each and every kiss, my love for you will last for ever and ever more.’
In rewriting this text as a mantra, the artist felt she could celebrate their relationship and it helped her to cope with her newly-bereaved state of mind. She turned to her favourite gampi tissue paper to make her delicate ‘hearth rug’. Her aim was to express how fragile life can be.
She wrote using her own hand-mixed inks in four faded colours reminiscent of old sepia documents. She sewed mainly by hand with silk sewing thread to construct tissue text fringes on a rag cotton paper base. She chose the circular form to suggest a ‘home’ setting in reference to domestic textiles, but the central hole was hollowed out to form a wreath-like tribute to her husband.
Medium: gampi tissue, rag cotton paper and ink
Dimensions: 60 x 60 cm