Thursday, March 27, 2014

Jennie Frederick ~ Kansas City, MO


Jennie Frederick Studio ~ Kansas City, MO
Above: Jennie Frederick beats a kozo drawing. Look for her new book "Black and White: Paper, Wax, & Kozo Constructions" to be published in April. For further info. contact her at jennie@jenniefrederick.com
“My current work utilizes techniques observed in the Mexican papermaking village of San Pablito (Puebla State), and the Lacandon Maya villages of Lacanhá and Nahá in Chiapas.
My work holds influences, committed to memory, from my observation and research during my travels to document indigenous fiber techniques. These include Otomi lace amate, Lacandon hu’un (Mayan bark cloth) with symbolic circular motifs, Ecuadorian Cuenca paños; observation of shigra making from pita fiber in the Amazon jungle, and Peruvian Chancay textiles, delicately woven and embroidered. All of these techniques use natural fibers in multiple element constructions.
I cook kozo (mulberry) fiber until pliable, then I create sub-structures which appear linear, delicate, light, and open. These sub-structures are lightly beaten with a lava stone and dried. Mulberry is tied onto this base along with other materials.
I am interested in the notion of textile structure as marker, using line, repetition, texture and symbol, particularly the circle, to document events in time. Light, delicate, open work structures become artifacts of time, events, people, actions, and places.”
Below: It is 10” x 10”. Materials: paper, encaustic wax, kozo, graphite and charcoal transfer. Charcoal transfer is accomplished by rubbing charcoal onto a piece of vellum paper. It is then turned charcoal down onto a waxed surface and a stylus tool is used to transfer it…you can get VERY deep black line quality this way…but it has to be done on a waxed surface.


Title: Bisque Xikal
This image shows some of the interior space…studio overlooks pond and woods. This is geared up for kozo drawing and encaustic right now. Paula Roland’s ‘hotboxes’ (encaustic monotype equipment is on the left).




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