Handmade

Handmade is a story about creation, its essence, celebration of simplicity, beauty of art and folk crafts. From the first to the last act of this series, we see how a work of art is created, symbolizing the unbreakable link with nature, tradition and folklore. After all, what we create is a part of each of us, a reflection of our inner self and the environment around us.

We surrender to the natural power of creation, which is the bond between us and nature. At each stage of the cycle, one of three important elements of creation can be found: The hands that can hold, combine or break, the all-seeing eye of the creator, and the threads that connect the physical to the invisible and unspoken.

Stage One: The Innate Thread

It depicts the most recognizable elements of folk attire: the shawl, beads, gown, and bodice, created by a mysterious, weaving power, united with the primal genetic code, with the essence of existence. The following images show a folk spider, hanging from an Eye over a field. Folk spiders, made from straw, colorful papers and flower petals, usually have a decorative function during holidays, while here they become a symbolic incubator for a newborn human being.

Stage Two: Stitched Inside

The first four images show an artists studio and table in disarray where, poignantly, a heart is constructed from wood, straw, wicker, and lace. The next four images are portraits of a woman exploring the morphology of her body, created from wood (skin), straw (hair), a painted Easter egg (brain), and wicker (muscle and bone). In the background – the Eye, a symbol of the omnipresent creator. The woman finds her identity and continues the work she has begun.

Stage Three: Knitting the World

In the third and final stage, we find the artist in her studio sitting at her spinning wheel. By weaving she evokes the same spirit and creative energy that is responsible for her existence. Next to her we see a wooden chest with folk patterns, symbolizing the sources of her inspiration. Each work in the studio has its counterpart in the artist’s memories and travels from the four corners of the world.

Each counterpart make us aware of the genesis of her inspiration: oysters freshly fished from the sea, eagle eggs in the mountains, wild vegetables growing in the field, and finally in honeycombs hanging on a branch from the edge of the forest. During each trip she takes with her a bundle on a stick, collects all the Eyes she finds in it, to hide them on her return in a wooden box, as the basis of her inspiration with the idea: we were created and we want to create in the same way, according to the laws of nature and in unity with the element of life.

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