|
Cloth & Culture NOW
the artists - Una Laukmane, Latvia
I think that the fact that I have been
born in Latvia is one of the main causes and coincidences that
has determined my desire to become a textile designer.
It is
very important for me to always come back to Latvia – to
feel the nature, gain strength and derive an inexplicable inspiration – in
order to create.
My first encounters with textile took
place in childhood, in a very traditional sense – those were
the loom, flax yarn, bits of wool and reed, the scent, colour
and texture of which lured me into a mystical world where I wanted
to stay as long as I could. Probably it is these vivid memories
of colours, smells and feelings which have ever since tempted
me to go back and try out something new and unprecedented. In
my education, too, I have followed traditional steps and looked
for innovative influences, having studied at the Textile Design
Department of the Latvian Academy of Art, but prior to that -
direction of stage movement at the Moscow Institute of Culture.
I suppose that in the process of creating something entirely
new, in absorbing unexplored currents and traditions it is essential
for me not to lose this connection with history, that huge and
powerful source, eternally present.
It is difficult to talk about
the materials I use, as they interact and speak for themselves.
I have come to realize that for me textile means connection,
the act of bringing together different materials defying the
apparent impossibility, and – keeping them in balance.
It is a unique adventure ¬- to give materials a chance to
develop towards a new quality, to transform them thus creating
something totally new – be it textile objects, tapestries,
illustrations, sewn book illustrations, theatre costumes or interior
objects. The same might be said about the interaction of different
cultures in my work, influences – often indiscernible -
of literature, music and closest people on my personal experiences,
adventures and emotional life.
Balance is a concept of particular
importance to me; a balance which is shaped in perpetual motion,
although looking on, it would appear that in order to keep the
balance the moment itself has to be motionless. The body stays
in balance through an ongoing clash of thoughts which, like a
sudden jolt, wake us up and do not allow to us to slip back again
into the sleep of a long-distance traveler. Balance of feelings
is a precise recognition of the possibilities of each moment,
like a timely strike of racket sending the ball up in the air
again. And a living person is like someone balancing in body,
mind and feelings on a rope over an abyss. Once united the body,
mind and feelings are no longer separable.
My attempt to keep
the balance is an attempt to find it by juxtaposing different
materials and looking for ways for them to form a unity. This
process is full of inimitable surprises. The synthetic and natural
materials influence and transform each other. Through the interplay
with the surrounding environment, space and light they create
a new living unity, a new balance where only an accident lost
in the void could otherwise have been possible.
LATVIA
|
