Interview

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Questioning Duality - Artist Statement
karen ciaramella

As human beings, we are constantly moving through states of expansion and contraction. My work investigates a personal dialogue that visually represents my connection and disconnection, to people, events, and most importantly, the Self. The work is imbued with my philosophical belief that everything, in every moment, is perfect; the mind however, continues to engage in incessant chatter, questioning “why?”. The imagery vacillates between a portrayal of the pulsation of Chiti Shakti, the feminine principle of Divine Energy, juxtaposed with that of a contracted state of Being, mired in duality and ego consciousness.

Composed primarily of all white sheep’s wool, my work utilizes the material to symbolize Divinity embracing all things. The wools’ insular quality signifies warmth and protection. The palette embraces Kandinsky’s color theory that white conveys ‘a great silence’ which ‘contains the appeal of nothingness that exists before birth’. Alive, it is ever ‘pregnant with possibilities’. Shri embraces and permeates all things embodying the fluidity of the formed and formless, transcending time, pervading and sustaining the universe. This perfection, the dynamic flux of the continuum of the regenerative process, is addressed throughout the work, both through the usage of the material and iconographic forms alluding to fertility.

Formally, the wool is represented in disparate states of being: rigid and soft, structured and amorphous. Manipulated to varying degrees, the felted, glued or hand twisted knots of fiber elicit associations with corporeality and, paradoxically, transcendence. To the initiated, the mystery of the knots reference Shri Kundalini, the latent female energy lying coiled and dormant at the base of the spine. The process of hand knotting is ritualistic and meditative, yet, simultaneously obsessive. Scale varies from tiny pod-like sculptures to large installation work. Protuberances of knotted fiber spill out from wall reliefs and form piles on the floor. Organs, umbilical cords, genitalia and the crevices of the mind can be discerned.

Embedded objects, chosen for conceptual significance, are sometimes hidden within the wool, referencing an idea or notion of time. The objects, whose known visual identity is obscured, are entombed in the wool. Dangling from space or sitting prominently alone, their true nature is visually concealed. They can be interpreted as cocoons or captured prey, either way, both transmuting life. They serve to challenge the very nature of an object or an idea, as well as what is actually “seen” by the seer.