Artist: Geraldine M Ysselstein
Name: “The Sticks that Stand Together” (2023)
Material: Fibre weaving with wool and sticks AND poetry
Background: This weaving and poetry is inspired by the sticks that stand together at the Leighton Art Centre near Calgary, Alberta. It surprises me every time I walk by it. Some of the questions I am asking in this piece are: Is it nature turned into art? Is it art inspired by nature? Why do we imitate nature in art? What responsibility do I have to the land as an artist?
“The Sticks that Stand Together”
Geraldine M Ysselstein (2023)
As I meander in the fields, I discover.
The sticks that stand together.
They stand there tall and waving.
The sticks that stand together.
Why they are there, I do not know.
The sticks that stand together.
Are they alive or are they dead?
The sticks that stand together.
Imitating life that once was before.
The sticks that stand together.
Is anything dead that can bring life?
The sticks that stand together.
I wonder why I weave this landscape.
The sticks that stand together.
Art imitates a meeting of sky and land.
The sticks that stand together.
Is it to pay more attention?
The sticks that stand together.
Of person, place, and purpose.
The sticks that stand together.
A desire for connection.
The sticks that stand together.
