Ubiquitous Cocoons
June to September 2019
Excerpts from Artist statement
“As an aging woman, I now have many more questions than answers. I wonder about my place? Who I am? and, How do I come to terms with all the privilege that I have? In this exhibition, I explore the metaphor of the cocoon. For me, it is about things that are not always tangible but present and often cannot be articulated with words. It’s about how it feels to have privilege based on outward appearance—some tied to the outer covering of your body and the incongruity that dynamic of-ten produces. “
This cocoon series was a giant leap into sculptural form for me. As with all my work I like to push myself and the materials and see where they will take me. There is often a real struggle in this process—anxiety and challenge to our personal identity.
One of my challenges with this exhibition was working on a much larger scale. To augment my skills I took a five-day class at the beginning of November with Mo Kelman an internationally established artist and teacher from Rhode Island. This added to my knowledge of making skeletal structures using more than one piece of material and lashing them together. I learned techniques for building skins onto these structures included working with animal gut, which became the translucent cover of ‘Skin’.
“As a papermaker, I have been reflecting on how I use paper and how it is entwined with my identity, supports my narratives and visualizes my memories. Growing up in Australia I was affected by the inter-generational nature of the White Australia Policy (1901) in place until 1966. My great grandfather was Chinese, a government interpreter. Fearing repercussions from the government, even deportation, many families hid their ancestry destroying records and photographs.”
This happened to the very distant connection my family has to an aboriginal heritage. I carry this invisible, unspoken and barely documented identity around in-side of me. It is a piece of me.
“In exploring place, identity and privilege through cocoons, Kathy Pick provides a meditative platform on which to consider oneself. She asks, how can one address and express these relationships to others? “ Excerpt from the Curator Jisgang Nika Collison.
“As an aging woman, I now have many more questions than answers. I wonder about my place? Who I am? and, How do I come to terms with all the privilege that I have? In this exhibition, I explore the metaphor of the cocoon. For me, it is about things that are not always tangible but present and often cannot be articulated with words. It’s about how it feels to have privilege based on outward appearance—some tied to the outer covering of your body and the incongruity that dynamic of-ten produces. “
This cocoon series was a giant leap into sculptural form for me. As with all my work I like to push myself and the materials and see where they will take me. There is often a real struggle in this process—anxiety and challenge to our personal identity.
One of my challenges with this exhibition was working on a much larger scale. To augment my skills I took a five-day class at the beginning of November with Mo Kelman an internationally established artist and teacher from Rhode Island. This added to my knowledge of making skeletal structures using more than one piece of material and lashing them together. I learned techniques for building skins onto these structures included working with animal gut, which became the translucent cover of ‘Skin’.
“As a papermaker, I have been reflecting on how I use paper and how it is entwined with my identity, supports my narratives and visualizes my memories. Growing up in Australia I was affected by the inter-generational nature of the White Australia Policy (1901) in place until 1966. My great grandfather was Chinese, a government interpreter. Fearing repercussions from the government, even deportation, many families hid their ancestry destroying records and photographs.”
This happened to the very distant connection my family has to an aboriginal heritage. I carry this invisible, unspoken and barely documented identity around in-side of me. It is a piece of me.
“In exploring place, identity and privilege through cocoons, Kathy Pick provides a meditative platform on which to consider oneself. She asks, how can one address and express these relationships to others? “ Excerpt from the Curator Jisgang Nika Collison.
