English version of the Dutch blog by TxP.
When Covid-19 made its entry, it was joined by Social Distancing. You heard this term inappropriately. It was so present that it also got into my system. One night when I was watching TV I noticed that I was thinking "no, don't sit so close together". I realized that I was going to project the "covid-19 world" onto my own world. In my visual work I first wanted to do nothing with the whole Corona event. I live in Heerde, a place that has been hit hard, this was also very present in the first weeks when I came to the village for the necessary groceries. Extinct streets, people moving around each other anxiously and when you spoke to someone you heard who was all involved. Suddenly there was talk about: Social Distancing, everyone was called on to keep a distance, at least 1.5 meters. Should the vulnerable group of elderly and sick no longer receive visitors, which would quickly lead to isolation.
I cherish the moments myself when I have a needle and thread in my hands. Just quiet with this craft: a kind of meditation. It is not quick to make something. It takes time and attention, rest to take the time. And if you do that, time sometimes turns out to have flown by. At that time I felt very much that Social Distancing had to be converted into Social Connection for me. Everyone had to stay at home #staysafe and keep their distance, but I had a great need to connect myself. This is how the idea for "Love Blooms" (www.loveblooms.nl) arose, an art project in which everyone could participate by embroidering a flower and sending it to me.
I got in touch with the people who participated and sweet messages like, “I went up to the attic to find my embroidery stuff,” “I embroidered this flower with the yarn from my mother's legacy,” or “I put these flowers together embroidered with my babysitting children aged 5 & 8. ” The idea that women and a man between the ages of 5 and 87 in the Netherlands and Canada joined my art project was very touching. In addition, receiving the embroidered flowers every day was a gift in this strange time.
I received embroidered flowers, large and small, made with a cross stitch, loose embroidery stitch, according to pattern or my own idea and I connected the yarn of these flowers. I made all flowers digitally free-standing and processed them into a large bouquet inspired by the work of Rachel Ruys, which hangs in the Rijksmuseum "Still life with flowers in a glass vase". This digital bouquet is printed on postcards with the intention of brightening people up. The local copy shop Van der Most has sponsored 500 pieces. In addition to this card, I also made a physical artwork of all the flowers that were tied together with the yarn. For example, we managed to keep the distance, MAKE CONTACT and connect.
I cherish the moments myself when I have a needle and thread in my hands. Just quiet with this craft: a kind of meditation. It is not quick to make something. It takes time and attention, rest to take the time. And if you do that, time sometimes turns out to have flown by. At that time I felt very much that Social Distancing had to be converted into Social Connection for me. Everyone had to stay at home #staysafe and keep their distance, but I had a great need to connect myself. This is how the idea for "Love Blooms" (www.loveblooms.nl) arose, an art project in which everyone could participate by embroidering a flower and sending it to me.
"I embroidered this flower with the embroidery thread from my mother's legacy"
I got in touch with the people who participated and sweet messages like, “I went up to the attic to find my embroidery stuff,” “I embroidered this flower with the yarn from my mother's legacy,” or “I put these flowers together embroidered with my babysitting children aged 5 & 8. ” The idea that women and a man between the ages of 5 and 87 in the Netherlands and Canada joined my art project was very touching. In addition, receiving the embroidered flowers every day was a gift in this strange time.
I received embroidered flowers, large and small, made with a cross stitch, loose embroidery stitch, according to pattern or my own idea and I connected the yarn of these flowers. I made all flowers digitally free-standing and processed them into a large bouquet inspired by the work of Rachel Ruys, which hangs in the Rijksmuseum "Still life with flowers in a glass vase". This digital bouquet is printed on postcards with the intention of brightening people up. The local copy shop Van der Most has sponsored 500 pieces. In addition to this card, I also made a physical artwork of all the flowers that were tied together with the yarn. For example, we managed to keep the distance, MAKE CONTACT and connect.
Threads of Connection