humor in the knit.

Capitol

Persistent Melody

I am so excited by the work of Janet Morton. Her oeuvre is giant, her medium spans many things but her favorite definitely seems to be yarn. Conceptually she seems to explore many things. But everything is exciting, beautiful, and has a sense of fun to it. As you can see I had a hard time selecting images to show because all her work is great and it is so varied.

sweater for a giraffe.

Work socks for Patsy (the elephant)

Janet playfully examines the meaning and roles of everyday objects. Often through large public installations. One journalist states:

...such creations also invite audiences to take a long, hard look at how humans view and interact with objects and environments. When viewing Morton's art, look twice—first to enjoy the surprise of the unexpected and then to be drawn into deeper potential meanings. from here.

Early Frost.

Morton's projects often contain added measures of humor and care demonstrated in a sincere investment of time and labor to produce a relevant transformation that is at the same time delightful and absurdly excessive. "It is my intention," she says, "to make publicly accessible work that asks questions about perception, about truth, about equations that link time and money and about the ways in which value and meanings are assigned to objects."

Early Frost. (detail)

She has been quoted to say that her love for knitting comes from its documentation and "measurement of time." Often very well expressed through her many tree works.

Domestic Interior

Tweed plant.

I also of course really love her work with the everyday objects of domestic life. I have been "working" on making a house plant myself for years.

casting off.

Strangely, when looking through her entire portfolio much of her visual approach reminds me of one of my all time favorite artists, Annette Messeger. Something about how she approaches the wall in installation is similar.

I cannot find any sort of clear statement. But her work is so playful you seem to not need one so much. To see more of her super fun and fabulous work go here.