SOMETIMES when you are having a busy week deciding how to invest your 24 hours can be a challenge. I value every second of each day because I am intentional about using time – which is one of the most valuable resources- wisely. I did that last week when Marcia Bosshardt Marcia (in the photo provided ) invited me to an art exhibition at Castelanni House. Malena Mandiola is extremely talented but also a great story teller. She was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and lived in Mexico DF, Paris, Lima, Shanghai, Tokyo and now Guyana. Things that are different always appeal to me and this exhibition certainly captivated my creative mind. I love working with various fabrics and admire the creative masterpieces she created from pieces of scraps. I walked around viewing the amazing work of Malena and found myself wondering about the places I have never visited. I love the little bench that was featured and I could have seen women sitting on them while doing chores or just relaxing. The name of the exhibition is THIRTEEN and I will share the info she shared:
Thirteen compositions suspended in space to be traversed and observed from both sides. A sinuous path linked by a red thread, a constant element that interlaces and sustains. The works are made from a collection of scraps, old, used and some new; of distant, familiar, classic and current designs.
The fabrics are superimposed creating particular stories, grouped in the retina and difficult
to grasp. Layers of saturated colours: some bright, cheerful; others of dark colours, a unique composition in black and white.
We travel a succession of transparencies and opacities: a call to spy and discover. A journey of glitters, silk, lace, cotton, wool…the impulse to touch awakes.Secrets and mysteries, certainties and uncertainties.
Thirteen knots painted in acrylic displayed horizontally.
The kimono, Japanese traditional apparel, is adjusted and supported by an obi, a girdle four meters in length that tie into a beautiful, elegant and tight knot. Beneath an apparent fragility, hides heavy layers of refined fabrics. Guardians jealous of the most sacred secrets.
Thirteen sculptures twinned from fabrics, colours, designs, diverse materials and interventions.
An object formed from a traditional popular Chinese stool, “xiaodengzi”, connecting travels of the West with those of the East. Childhood memories with current experiences. The daily life of an object.
“The esthetic acts is, perhaps, the imminence of a revelation which does not happen”J.L Borges.
“During the eight years I lived in China and Japan, I walked the streets and travelled extensively on public transportation. Subtly, I was weaving stories of my country with those of the East, the experiences of my childhood with current ones, twinned with fabric, colours and designs. On my journey, I explored the feminine world and its mysteries in-depth discovering more about its particular complexities and the way they persist in reappearing over time-geographies and different cultures since the beginning of time,” the artist said.
Travel truly teaches us things and impact our lives in such a major way. Malena was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and lived in Mexico DF, Paris, Lima, Shanghai, and Tokyo. She is now Guyana with her husband I am sure when she leaves here she will create another masterpiece. I knew about the Japanese kimono but that evening I learnt the significance of it. We can learn about so many journeys through art and wish the creative sector, especially in Guyana, gets the respect it deserves.
Let’s commit to supporting the creative arts and you can do that today by attending STYLE MISSION at the Pegasus at 20:00hrs this evening. I am thankful for my creative mind and appreciate the creative as we continue to celebrate this beautiful journey called life BEYOND THE RUNWAY.
