not a lazy suzen

So, in a bit of a temperamental rage, I did something dramatic that caught many of my studio peers off guard:

I sliced up the hooked mat I’ve been so diligently working on. I didn’t even think twice about it, I just whipped out those scissors and didn’t look back. Why would I do such a thing? Well, it was after a studio visit with a prof and fellow students when we all kind of decided that the imagery was really restricted by the frame of the mat. It just wasn’t vast enough–not nearly enough tension. So, out came the scissors. I still don’t think it’s all that successful but it’s a helluva lot better than it was before. At least now I can play with perspective and tension.

While my actions were a little rash, some good did come out of it. I’ve decided that for the time being rug hooking is not suited for this kind of exact imagery. My skills with a hook aren’t nearly up to par to achieve the results I’m happy with. Plus, in order to get the scale and tension I want so badly, the mat would have to be like a million feet long and I don’t have the time to invest in something like that. I’ve come to realize that hooking is much better for other things.

hooking quidi vidi from suzen green on Vimeo with “Fireflies” by Jenn Grant.

Like interpreting drawings from months past!

Over the summer I did a tiny series of drawings entitled Pond & Lake where I sketched bodies of water around my hometown and wrapped them in yarn. Now I see the drawings as a great jumping off point for a larger series of things, more specifically hooked mats! I really think that the nature of rug hooking, especially with wool yarns instead of fabric, suits this better than the househauling imagery I had attempted earlier.

So I’m using all shades of blues and purples to give Quidi Vidi Lake a watery, stained-glass feeling. I think the reason I am loving this much more than the other hooked rug I was working on a few weeks ago is that I feel like I am drawing with the yarn. It’s a lot like embroidery. Unlike the mat before, hooking lines to give the illusion of rope is exactly the same procedure as drawing. Thin, delicate lines that overlap and collide. When the mat is finished, I’ll be hemming the burlap so it can be hung on the wall vertically. It’ll have this strange body-like quality to it. Ambiguous is what I’m aiming for.

Needless to say this thing is taking me a little while to do. I’ve been breaking up the obsessive task of hooking lines with drawing in effort to give my hands a rest. Unfortunately, I believe drawing is worse for my hands than knitting and hooking combined! Oh well, the pain was worth it:

I’ve decided that the househauling imagery is better suited for very detailed large scale drawing. I’m totally digging the results:

I think the scale definitely works with this. And! I’ve gotten so excited about it that I already have two more drawings sketched out and waiting to be pursued. The tricky thing, though, is trying to figure out where to trim the paper and how to hang the drawing without causing too much damage with pins and clips. Plus, I really don’t want to distract away from the delicacy of the drawing with giant metal clips. I’ve never had to figure this kind of stuff out until now. In the past, I’ve always done sculptural/installation/wearable stuff, avoiding the wall as much as possible but now I’ve become dependent on it. My, how the tables have turned!

Anyway, that’s my little update for now. I’m hard at work from now until Dec 9th and then I’ll be breathin’ easy until Christmas. I’ll update some more once things get a little further along