teetotum

Rachel Gomme

'Knitting a Rothko'

Working predominantly in live art/performance, one of my core interests is the embodied nature of being and how the experience of time and memory is stored and expressed in the body. In my work I focus on detail and process, and seek to explore (for example through the use of stillness and silence in performance) what is present in a space that is often perceived as empty. I also examine the nature of the performer/viewer relationship, and to what extent it is possible to create a shared space of experience between performer and viewer. My work has encompassed durational performance, video and sculptural installation, and I often work site-specifically to highlight presence in the lived moment and place.

Using yarn unravelled from previously made and worn garments, over the three days I will knit a piece which echoes the work of Mark Rothko. I am interested in the way knitting can represent and materialise aspects of time and memory, through the creation of a 3-dimensional fabric from something linear. The repeated stitches are indicative of how small details or moments gradually build up into something larger. In contrast to many other artefacts, in most knitting the individual actions which go towards creating the object are still clearly manifest in the finished piece, while the continuity of the yarn suggests how these details are part of a seamless whole. My task will be to create a finished object whose simplicity will both underscore and belie the intense labour which went towards making it.

Residency Sept 24 25 26