Finished February TIF Challenge

Well, here it is finished, the concept being memory itself, using SharonB's palette of colours which were light and medium blue and orange and dark blue.


On the left-hand side, the colours are more intense with more beads signifying the intensity of my thoughts when something happens. As I am a visual person, there is also an eye shape there.


In the middle section, the visual stimulus has entered the brain signified by the shibori-technique light blue organza. The beads and sequins in this part represent thoughts about the original stimulus and the trails of fabric leading off represent neurones and synapses. So the brain "digests" the stimulus and saves the experience in short-term memory.

Finally, on the right-hand side, the thoughts trail off into long term memory but the beads are lighter in colour because the original experience has been transformed by the brain and by being in short-term memory. The plain orange organza of the background has also been replaced by that shot-metallic organza that I wet and wrinkled, representing the gold tinge we apply to happy memories and also aging (wrinkles). In this section, there are also rips in the orange fabric representing gaps in memory as I get older.

All around the basic shapes are concentric lines of machine stitching to give the effect of ripples in a pool, and the sense of time passing as you "read" the piece from left to right.

I enjoyed doing this piece and the thought processes behind it, but as usual, now that it's finished I have to put it aside because I don't like it very much. On the other hand, the piece I did for the January TIF challenge is back on my worktop, ready to be made into a little bag and I like it again. Go figure.