The allegory of the washing line has become an integral part of my practice, it is always my point of reference. As cloths on the line are exposed to the elements, the production of papier mâché involves both water and then sun and air. Hanging out the washing evokes for me, an often-solitary task which traditionally falls to women. It describes a balance of space, shade, light, texture and form, alluding to the five elements in Taoism; giving value to the ordinary things that we do, in seeing them as a significant part of the greater whole.
There is a way that the feminine cycles – feminine energy, is instinctually attuned with the natural world, to the way things happen. Fundamentally, this incorporates qualities of holding, supporting, and grounding, which centres on points of contact: –
Some lineage. My mother’s hands pegging laundry.
The artistry of hanging : a harnessing of space and shape, fitted to a line.
… from ‘On Clothes Lines’ by Stephanie Norgate.