2021

Panta rhei - art in the woods

As promised I would show a bit of the changes of the Panta rhei panels. In all, I am very satisfied with the result. Hanging in sun, rain, wind and storm, the colours of the fabric changed from strong to soft, some dramatically during the process, these were the inks. The paints on the plastic were sturdier, with the textile paints washing off better than the gouache paints.
The panels had held themselves very well, even survived a storm during which some panels turned around their hanging poles. Easy to fix, nothing was damaged.

21_Panta rhei_Kunstsmullen_first dayPanta rhei the first day - October 3
21_Panta rhei_last dayPanta rhei the last day - October 31
Panta rhei_3 steps(72)October 7 - October 15 - October 23 (one week in between each step)

Art in the woods

21_Panta rhei_Kunstsmullen(72)Panta rhei, 2021, 15 panels H300 x W50 cm each

Close to the entry deadline I decided to make an outdoor work for Kunstsmullen 2021 Heeze. It was so wonderful that we could exhibit again after this bleak and empty artless period. Two years before I had already thought about the concept intended for an outdoor work, so now I could finally execute it. Which meant making samples, samples and samples…

The idea behind Panta rhei, Greek for 'everything streams', meaning that nothing will stay as it is, that everything will change in the course of time. I have explored this theme by dyeing textiles and painting plastic with non fixed paints and dyes, not making use of chemicals or heat. Rain would slowly (or faster) change the fabrics and plastic, natural inks like Bister or Quinck washing out quickly, Procion and gouache a bit slower. No acrylics of course.
3 weeks for this process to happen could very well be too short, but then, only one big downpour might do it for me. Part of the process is making photos of the installation during the exhibition. I'll post the process in due time.

The installation itself was challenging, getting three 3 m long panels on battens at about 3.5 m in the trees and lifting both sides at the same time. With good help we managed. And I have overcome a slight fear of heights on ladders.

21_Panta rhei_Kunstsmullen_hanging(72)