- Michelle Sirois Silver
hooked on a feeling
I often hear artists talk about making art based on a feeling. It sounds esoteric.
But in fact, that’s how I make my art.
My art making is often a catharsis. I use it to sort out my feelings about love and loss, day-to-day life.
My work titled Repair 1, was inspired by a family member’s terminal illness. As I watched her transition from this world into the next I was struck by the kind and caring family members who supported her on her journey.
I wanted to express that feeling. To make sense of it.
The inspiration for the design came from the Hosta leaf. It always seemed so contradictory - here was a leaf that had the delicate quality of paper and yet it had dynamic lines running through it. I photographed the leaves in the spring, summer and fall documenting their birth, life, death, and rebirth cycles over a four-year period.
I selected an image.
The image was worked in photoshop.
I made a sample and used hand stitch alongside the hand hooked surface.
I continued to explore the image in photoshop and considered different ways of seeing the image.
White and pink tones captured my feelings of wanting to repair and delay the progression of the illness.
Making the work was a healing journey which helped to bring acceptance and closure.
"The highest form of wisdom is kindness." Talmud