Size approx: 12” x 12”
by Terry Phillips
Quadra Island, BC
Materials and Techniques:
Upcycled Linen/Tencel blend, commercial
batik, cotton thread, cotton/poly batting, cotton backing. Janome
domestic machine stitching, hand appliqué.
Theme: "Oxymoron". The theme for this piece was admittedly
a struggle to begin with. I googled every 'oxymoron' I could find
and wasn't happy with any of the traditional ideas of an oxymoron.
It wasn't until reading one of my Japanese garden books that I
realized I have been working on an oxymoron garden for the last year.
'Perfect Imperfection' is my oxymoron
and could be one way to describe the aesthetic of this asymmetrical,
rough, and simple wabi-sabi garden. The imperfection is seen in the
rough rocks and the gravel. The perfection is man's attempt to shape
the land by the placing of the rocks and the daily raking and
cleaning.
Wabi-Sabi could be said to have three
tenets; imperfection, impermanence, and transience and is derived
from early Buddhist teachings. By immersing yourself in the viewing
of a miniature rocky landscape or an ancient gnarled tree you begin
to see and understand man's relationship to our place on earth.
As you view this piece I hope to impart
a small glimmer of Wabi-Sabi.
Here is a detail.
