Dream Landscapes

(Ink on Cotton/Linen)

This woven textile was inspired by traditional landscape paintings of China, in particular, Xia Gui’s Remote View of Streams and Hills (13th Century). In referencing the traditional practice of studying or copying a Master's work, the piece pays homage to the painters that have produced such emblematic landscapes. However, the use of ink on loom, does not create a visual effect simply painted on. Rather, the ink is absorbed onto particular strands of the fabric leading the image to become substantially abstracted and distorted. It is a retelling and recalling of a long tradition, a questioning of whether those landscapes still exist today. The history of Chinese monumental landscape paintings, especially in the handscroll format, have historically been reserved for the private enjoyment of the scholarly elite. What are the implications then to have the textile piece available not only to be seen by everyone, but also to be tactile by nature? It is physically accessible, and yet the imagery is unclear, blurred and illusionistic. Dream Landscapes is a meditation on land, memory and bodies. What does it mean to be away from a homeland? For certain landscapes to be changed forever, existing only in dreams, as the convergence of time and distance makes the recalling seem obscured and distant even when it may be right in front of you. This piece is made not just for the ‘waking senses’ but also to evoke the ‘sleeping’ ones.