It’s all in the eye, it’s all in the seeing
A joint exhibition featuring works by Madelon Holder and Gisela Wielki
I’ve always enjoyed working with fabrics. The different textures and patterns are a bridge to transform a piece of material into something unexpected and unique.
Now I sew mostly with remnants out of an interest in not wasting anything that will contribute to landfill. Also, to gather little bits together is to show respect for the spiritual and human energy that created this material.
-Madelon Holder
It all began early in life with shiny rocks. I always had a tendency to look down. Maybe because I have a keen interest in the sense world and a curiosity and sense of wonder for the world of things, many of which we step over unnoticed. It’s all in the eye at first, the observation and attention. Each is an act of love. When exercised, it will extend into all areas of life, from the most mundane to the loftiest heights.
Not our craving but our love for the sense world will lead us and show us the way from what is seen to the unseen, the world of spirit. That may be in the natural world or in our man-made world, or even in our soul life.
So much is being cast away, discarded, torn out of its story, its biography. For me the reimagining of the discarded is to reclaim it, reintegrated the fallen things of the world again into a whole, into a new story, see it and show it in a new context. To give it an artistic expression has only evolved in the last two decades. The material was cheap and plenty, glue and a staple gun often enough aided by a sense of humor and a leaning towards the absurd and whimsical.
Having walked the streets and river fronts of New York City for decades and worked as a priest in The Christian Community has been invaluable to develop these skills.
-Gisela Wielki