This fall I completed a large commission entitled Dark Summer Sky: Mica, Stars & Fireflies for permanent installation in the Helix Center Biotech Incubator in St Louis, MO. This innovative facility created by the St Louis Economic Development Partnership, bills itself as a place for “startup bioscience, technology or plant and life science businesses,” with wet and dry labs, office space, mentoring and more. Currently, I’m told there are close to 40 tenants, and an expansion is planned. A perfect concept that matches my own interests in science and entrepreneurship.
My connection to this project started two years ago. I was contacted by Faith Berger, 652 Moderne Art Consultants about supplying a large textile piece for a shared meeting space. Berger found my work through the Fiber Art Collective website , which led her to my own website. (Ironically, the piece that caught her eye was Two Weeks in Autumn, a large, 10′ triptych from a commission made for a client who found my work on the Surface Design Association website.) At first the project was for a 10′ x 6′ piece. Faith particularly liked some of my works, like Pods 1. I supplied some ideas and sent some actual pieces to demonstrate potential textures and colors. I was told that earthy colors (mossy green, dusty rose red, browns) would be a good color palette, and that the piece would be hanging against a wood paneled wall with modernist furniture, necessitating a ceiling hanging device.
Accommodating a wooden wall as background meant that if I decided to do my usual triptych for this large size format, the wood grain and color would have to figure into the design of the piece. That was not a good fit; I felt the grain would interfere with rather than support the idea. Therefore, I designed this as one long piece.
The project went on hiatus for a while, only to be rekindled with a different concept in summer 2014. Project designer/architect Stacey Hudson, Professional Office Environments (POE), liked what she saw in my art quilt, Mica 2, above, taking the project into quite a different direction. This was a piece made in response to an experience I had while teaching at Penland School of Crafts. While walking back to my quarters on a dark summer night, the mica in the ground sparkled, forming one continuum with the stars in the sky and fireflies. Very powerful.
I went back to the drawing board, reworking the concept as well as the size to 15′ x 4′ based on the room elevations. I then submitted several ideas. Mica 2 worked well in the smaller scale in which it was made, but it wasn’t a design layout that lent itself to a larger format, so I had to rethink that. I divided the piece diagonally to provide forward movement and added a complementary color way. Mica 2 is a pleasing, “quiet” piece, nothing too visually challenging. It plays a supporting role to the ambience of the place.
This new design was approved in early August, 2014, for completion around the end of October. I quickly went to work creating fabrics using hand painting and mono printing techniques, always making more than I thought I would need.
Although I have made large pieces before, this was the largest to date and it was not a triptych. Simply creating the design and hanging the final product in one piece was challenging but one I knew I could handle. To assemble the piece, I used both the floor plus a large, end-to-end wall in my 100-year old house. Designing was done on the horizontal wall. When I was satisfied with the layout, I stitched it together. Then I took it apart to create three separate pieces for stitching/quilting. These were laid out on my 10 foot printing table to make the “quilt sandwich”, i.e. with backing and needle punched batting, then pinned. Stitching took place on an ordinary sewing machine, which I always use.
When I finished quilting/stitching the three separate pieces, I re-stitched them together. This diagonal seam was a little tricky in that the quilting had shifted and tightened up the fabrics. I had to make sure that the seams were correct, or else the piece would not be square.
During this time, I researched hanging rods. Because of the wood wall, I could not use my usual solution. Since my original intention was to ship the piece, the rods needed to be no longer than six feet. I settled on 3/4 aluminum tubing, which is hollow for added strength. A short length of dowel joined two of the tubes in two places, creating one long hanging device.
My last step was add top and bottom casings and bindings. My original intention was not to use a binding, but simply to finish the edges as they were. With the large size, this was not possible, because the piece needed to be squared up. In its finished form, it measures 175 x 42.”
In the end, I delivered the piece in person, driving the four hours through autumnal landscapes, wary of the deer in rutting season in early November. Northeastern Missouri, near the Mississippi River, is quite beautiful, and the thinning of vegetation meant that old Prairie family graveyards, ancient trees and southern-style architecture were all in view. Delivery was well worth the drive. It was rewarding to see the piece installed and meet the people involved with this project. And it is a treat to be associated with this facility, the Helix Center, as well as with Faith Berger and 652 Moderne.
Astrid, thank you for sharing the step-by-step evolution of this stunning piece, so beautiful and so perfectly designed for the setting. The process is fascinating, a real eye-opener, as is the collaborative nature of the project — incorporating the ideas of others without compromising your own vision or diluting its power. As always, seeing this makes me feel lucky to have such a talented and inspiring friend. My dream is to commission you someday!
Astrid
What a stunning piece of work! It looks beautiful in the space. Your documentation of the work is very inspiring and it gave me a really good sense of what was involved in bringing the work from design to completion. Congratulations!
Astrid, I just LOVE what you’ve created with this piece! It’s stunning – so perfect in the space! And thank you for documenting your process. I like that you talk about figuring out the construction as part of the creative process. Beautiful!
My word! I love the work and where it is hung, and your willingness to share the process is wonderful. Now that size is no matter — well, the sky’s the limit. More more more!
Thanks to all of you for your comments…!
Love it Astrid! Great job.
Thank you for sharing the process and progress!!! Fascinating to see how other artists work, their reasoning and research, and how it all comes together.
Thouroughly enjoyed your documentation. Love mica/firefly vision in my head. Congratulations and thanks for a fun post!
It was a thrill to simply see in so few stages, taking shape. And the final hanging. I can only imagine how proud you are of it now. Please can you tell me what happened to the need for ceiling mount. Looks like they let you mount it directly to the wall somehow?
Karin,
The art consultant directed the installer to work from the molding above the wall, which protruded just enough to satisfy them. No additional hardware ended up in use. It does hang away from the wall, but only slightly. And we did not anchor it from the bottom as originally planned- it was light enough but also, stable.
Astrid,
Congratulations!!!
What an accomplishment and rise to challenge. I love all the photos with descriptive captions explaining the process and your decisions.
Astrid,
Nice work! Thanks for sharing the process.
Wonderful piece and very nice presentation. Thanks for sharing. Sally
I just came upon this presentation today, and what an interesting and exciting project. I do love your work.
thank you, Carolyn, and everyone. I appreciate the comments.