Triple Thread: (Part Two - Tawny Maclachlan Capon)

Knowing of Tawny Maclachlan Capon's background in ballet might lead one to assume that her visual art is simply a depiction of dancing forms. True, they are airy, ethereal, in motion - perhaps evoking a form of choreographic notation. But I think her work also goes deeper into more formal aspects of rhythm, form and materiality. They are immensely pleasurable to view in person, playing in the space between two and three dimensions.

These works explore the edges of the textile realm, using woven fabrics both for their expressive qualities as well as their ability to transmit or reflect light. Tawny also uses wire, small bits of hardware such as grommets or rivets, and window screening - even furnace filters. Stitches seem suggested, rather than fixed. 

I recently read, in the excellent With Pleasure: Pattern and Decoration in American Art 1972-1985 about pattern actually being about the space between motifs rather than the motifs themselves. Without the organizing principle of rhythmic space, motifs would become a jumble. Space give the motifs room to breathe, and breath too is an important element here. Tawny suggests that what we might see in her work are small spirits, but she also doesn't want to predetermine what the viewer might find in her work.

 

Her elegiac installation "Spirited Away" encompasses 60 individual motifs that have taken flight, or are being blown, across the five large windows of the gallery. Seen on the night of the opening, they had a very different aspect than during the day, occupying a reflected space.

Next up, Part Three- Barbara Klunder