"Coddiwomple: (v) to travel in a purposeful manner towards a vague destination."
The Red Thread series is inspired on the Asian belief that there is an invisible "red thread," which binds us to everyone we are destined to meet or cross paths with in our lifetime. It is a beautiful concept of how we are all connected, and that there are reasons for it. I have found this to be true through my personal migrations from place to place, meeting new people as I go along on my life’s path. This connectedness has become more so with the advent of technology, where distance is no longer a barrier to staying in touch and/or crossing paths.
Pangaea
2012
Recycled atlas, thread, encaustic and gold leaf
9.5 x 9 x 8.5 inches
It is believed that 300 million years ago, all the continents we know today were once massed together as a “supercontinent” before they split up, and this massive land was called “Pangaea.” The name Pangaea derives from Ancient Greek: Pan meaning “entire” and Gaea meaning “earth.”
Today, thanks to the internet and social media, it seems as if we are moving back together into one big cyberland. Hence the name of my piece, which represents the world through atlas pages bonded together using natural materials such as beeswax, resin and gold. The printed pages of an old atlas saved from the landfill serve as a metaphor for the way the printed word is slowly disappearing in this new era of global communication. The use of spheres represents moving forward and at the same time going back to our origins in a different way. As they say, every end is a new beginning.
Today, thanks to the internet and social media, it seems as if we are moving back together into one big cyberland. Hence the name of my piece, which represents the world through atlas pages bonded together using natural materials such as beeswax, resin and gold. The printed pages of an old atlas saved from the landfill serve as a metaphor for the way the printed word is slowly disappearing in this new era of global communication. The use of spheres represents moving forward and at the same time going back to our origins in a different way. As they say, every end is a new beginning.