A group exhibition “Inspiration from the past for an artwork of now”, masterclass led by Erna van Sambeek.

Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

In the context of the humble weaver’s house, I was interested in he relationship between humans and industry, the pre- and post-industrial, the way the pre-industrial society had a certain autonomy over their space and bodies, albeit a harsh existence that made their bodies effectively into machines, or even several machines, but industrialisation dehumanized further by removing agency. I began by picturing a mediaeval manuscript illustration, of a humble weaver weaving cloths of blue and gold, which are under his bare feet, and are stretching up to the skies outside a small house. He is likened to the Buddhist monk. Doing what you do to perfection, the cloth becomes the cloth of heaven, beyond its material value.

Cloth. WB Yeats. He wishes for the cloths of heaven.

Titel:  Tread softly because you tread on my dreams. (2022)

Materiaal: katoen

Tekst:

Ik werd geïnspireerd door het idee van de laatste wever in het wevershuis. Hij staat voor het einde van de huisnijverheid, de periode van pre-industrialisatie. Fabrieksarbeid bracht grote veranderingen met zich mee: mensen werden gescheiden van hun natuurlijke omgeving.

Ik combineerde deze man met die in het gedicht van de Ierse dichter WB Yeats, ‘He wishes for the cloths of heaven’. In dit gedicht wil een man zijn geliefde ‘Hemel stof’ geven, doorwrocht met goud en zilver licht. Maar hij is arm, en heeft alleen zijn dromen.

Techniek: Monoprint