A memory cloth made during and after a recent trip to Bermagui, NSW.
Netting and rope found in a marina carpark
Flattened bottle caps found on the main street
Rectangles of sea-soaked material
Lat/long for main beach
Hand-sewn interventions
Rust stains sourced from sea-rusted guard rails
An unused handkerchief found by the sea
A memory cloth made during and after a recent trip. Key:
Asemic writings inspired and roughly traced from concrete seams in highway underpass foundations MER > YSSY
Earth/gravel/rain samples from YSSY absorbed into fabric
A (rough) layout of the trip
A lucky number (31)
Parts of a paper bag sourced close to YSSY
Rows of running stitch made back home in auspicious red
Tarot decks first saw use as playing cards from at least mid-15th century Europe. In the 18th century, some of these cards were adopted for cartomancy, where each card was assigned a divinatory aspect. Subsequently, custom decks were developed specifically for occult purposes and so the practice and the mythos grew.
Recently I discovered an old pack of plain index cards I had bought from Japan some years ago. Each 200gsm card measures about 90 mm wide by 55 mm in height. Drawn to their accessibility, I started to use them to test fabric, sewing, stitching, and colouring, their hand-held size creating an unpretentious uniformity. Yet their highly individual content and potentiality also remind me of the weight of a tarot deck. The story of their development is somewhat divinatory, directing the next course of creative action.
Left: coffee, tea, cotton thread
Centre-left: beach charcoal, tea, cotton thread, acrylic fabric
Centre-right: coffee, tea, teabag, iron mordant, cotton thread
Right: coffee granules, tea, iron mordant, cloth, beach charcoal, cotton thread
