Pepper street Installation
2017
‘Woven Magic’
The Artist is Michelle Jahn.
Hello all, I do hope you enjoy this sculpture. I was asked why I’m doing these. Simply I grew up sailing, camping and family members did macramé and I remember they gave me twine to untangle (Probably to keep me out of trouble). So I’m very comfortable working with rope. The Wire element is from working in the workshop with dad and coming from a long line of farmers daughters, which mum was the last. At Art school, I worked with bird cage wire making sculptures and later I became a lampshade maker.
For this piece, it is a concept that fit both modern and historical persons, also cross-cultural. It works on people’s ideas of creating something from nothing, and weaving the web of community by offering opportunity for locals to add a woven piece, just into empty spots. The early settlers used rope and wire for everything, both on land or water and this is still the case mostly. Cross culturally it is perfect as the local indigenous peoples used rope too. Each piece is a part of the story of a community. There is a loose weave knit, embroidery used to create the road depicting the building of roads, ones that look like spider’s webs depicting weaving the web of community, stars to depict the spark of ideas that create community, some squares are depicting the undulations of hills which are the back drop of Adelaide.
The iron will rust and the rope will be dyed by the rust bleeding into the rope, it will weather and become more beautiful. It will draw you in to touch it, you’re welcome to touch.
To achieve these Weaving techniques the tension firm but not too tight, and creating repeating patterns, rolling the pattern left or right. It’s about filling a space with interest and beauty. Not just a creative girl thing, many of the knots useful survival skills. E.g. to create bedding rack, and many other items that are now called man crafting. The ingenuity of pioneers and necessity being the mother of all invention are all things that create community which flourishes.
