Kaitlyn Mateta
Trinity Catholic College Goulburn
STOP THE SPREAD'
Textile and Fibre
Wool, face masks, thread, pearls, elastic, wire
In an attempt to ‘stop the spread’, we are ordered to sanitise, isolate, lockdown, check-in, get vaccinated and mask-up. But are these measures working? The virus continues to infect and new strains emerge, with each one more contagious, more deadly. Stop the Spread is a postmodern work inspired by the current global pandemic and the somewhat ineffective measures we are taking to ‘contain’ the virus. A mass of crocheted coronavirus structures spews out of a limp and arguably useless face mask, with an unidentifiable strain creeping out. Maybe we simply cannot stop the spread …
My artmaking practice has been influenced by the study and interpretation of the following artists: Michelle Heslop, Rosalie Gascoigne, Vanessa Barragão, Ben Quilty.
Marker's Commentary
This contemporary investigation of traditional textile crafting methods, combines material and conceptual practices to explore the complex and layered issues emerging from the global Covid-19 pandemic. Immediately, audiences are piqued by the work's vibrant composition, richly coloured surfaces and organic forms that are drawn from the symbolic representations of the disease. The visual manifestation of the airborne particles proliferates and spreads into the environment, erupting from the mask in which they should be contained. Through an intelligent use of materials and technique the work moves beyond everyday observation. Themes of the home and the domestic are codified providing a deeper reading of the work. The endless hours of confinement to ‘stop the spread’, the idea of the ‘home’ as safe haven, and the monotony of tasks to keep one busy are tied to the idea of crafting as a means to pass time., The sheer act of repetition in such tasks, becomes analogous to controlling the growth and spread through the crafting of endless fibres.