As part of my artist residency last year at Petrified Forest National Park, I wove and donated a piece to the Park. Because this particular Park doesn't have a space to store art, my piece will be auctioned off to benefit the artist-in-residence program at Petrified Forest. (You can watch my website HERE for more information about the auction which will take place in Winslow, AZ in December.)
Artist statement for the tapestry
Tapestry weaving is a slow process. The image is built slowly in layers, one bit at a time. My process of weaving felt very similar to the geologic processes that created Petrified Forest National Park. In my month in the park, I hiked as much of it as I could and I was constantly amazed at the beauty of the layers in the rock. I also thought a lot about the span of time represented there.
My work often addresses the nature of time through the influence of landscape. In some ways, being able to look back at events that happened hundreds of millions of years ago in the rocks and petrified wood in the Park helps put our daily human struggles into some perspective. In a world full of short term gratification and goals, taking the long view, whether it is through appreciation of how the landscape was formed or through slowly building up a tapestry image in yarn, helps shift perspective and can even provide hope for the future.
The inspiration for this piece was the unending horizon experienced in my Petrified Forest hikes as well as appreciation of the layered landscape in places like Blue Mesa and Jasper Forest. My residency allowed me to return to these places over and over and experience them in different light and weather conditions: sunshine and snow alike. The layers of color in the tapestry were a reference both to the physical landscape and the learning that occurs when we visit a place repeatedly.
Rebecca Mezoff, Layers, 11.5 x 4 inches, tapestry
Petrified Forest National Park
I was the artist-in-residence in this National Park during the month of November 2016. You can see the tapestry diary that I wove while in the park as well as some of the adventures I had from THIS blog post.
I also made a book about these tapestries and if you'd like to purchase a copy, you can do so from Blurb Publications at this link:
http://www.blurb.com/b/8049009-the-petrified-forest-tapestries
You can also preview the entire book or download a PDF copy of the book at that link. Enjoy!