an ancient silence in waiting.

One of my embroidery students, Irene, told me to check out the work of Chilean artist and poet Cecilia Vicuna and finally months later I finally am. Cecilia's work without knowing anything about is very poetic in its use of string and thread as a connective.


I particularly like her red work, ever since I learned that in East Asian tradition they believe that there is a red thread that connects us to our soul mate. Even though her work is not necessarily about this I cannot help but be affected by this idea as I look at her red works.


This is said about her work:

[Cecilia] has been creating “precarious works”, ephemeral installations in nature, cities and museums since l966, as a way of “hearing an ancient silence waiting to be heard.”

uhhh, the words an ancient silence waiting to be heard are so powerful and moving. Her work does indeed seem to be strongly rooted in ancient ritual, landscape, and tradition there is a hushed memory to it that is palpable.


Her are a few snippets of her poetry:

Water is gold
The blood of the earth
Hearing us...


A place is a sound, and a way of hearing it.
A web of interrelationships, an exchange between people and earth. The space of naming...

I climbed the condor’s shadow
spinning a solar thread.

“Re
member
(it said)
re
cord

The union of water
and blood.”

Beautiful and powerful work and words. See more here.