I have kept the 'no-longer-needed-or-fitted-into' denim jeans of my family, from over the past 22 years. Not every pair, but ...rather a lot! They have been stored in a large tub in my work room, expanding each year, WAITING for a spike of inspiration to use them in some creative & interesting way. In the early days I had planned to make a denim patchwork cover to throw over a sofa. Recent travel to a few Islamic countries changed that outcome.
I am not a Moslem, but I have deep respect for some of their rituals & practices. One of the tools I most admire is the Prayer Mat. This small, beautiful item is a portable Mosque. It is a place of prayer & worship for the believer. This tool is a portal to a moment of spiritual contemplation.
I had a burning desire to make my own Prayer Mat, from those denim jeans! My first task was some research time in one of my most treasured book resources, 'The Language Of Design', a purchase from a visit to Istanbul that had threatened to take the suitcase over the weight limit! It explores Islamic design elements, the symbols, meanings and purpose.
Right from the start, the sacredness of the family home, was the focus I had in mind. However, I didnt want this piece to look like a cutesy craft project!
There was also a sentiment that I wanted to weave into the deeper meaning of the piece & I was finding it hard to make it all WORK together.
A few years ago, we took our two children to the northern part of my homeland, New Zealand. During the trip we participated in learning how to paddle a Maori waka (canoe). Because all participants got on so well, were having some laughs & enjoying the experience, the man who was leading decided to direct us to his family's Marae (sacred family communal ground). Before entering though there was a small welcome ceremony we needed to go through & in the process of that he said... "you, and all who travel within you, are welcome ".
In those few words he acknowledged that each of us carries the memories, the interactions, the love, the pain, the loss, the visual imagery, the sound of voices... of others with whom we have shared life with, or may continue to share life with....or may WANT to share life with!! We are individuals that carry within us....MANY! This concept was so honest & so poignant, it blew me away!
But how to get that idea across???? The wording just didnt work & I tried one design after...
...another. It was not coming together for me. Finally I let go of trying...
...and left the centre blank. It would take care of itself when it was ready. It was the Mihrab after all, the focal point, the niche indicating the direction of the Kaaba (Holy of Holies)! The shape, however, has been around a lot longer than Islam! It denotes a cave....the home & place of ritual for early mankind. It also looks a bit like a house!
At last I had a design direction .
I could start dismantling jeans, & making patches. During this time I had a period of significant ill health, so I soon found that a Dr's waiting room is as good a place as any to work on a patch!!
Gradually my Prayer Mat was starting to grow & take shape.
I used wash tags as a fringe for the top.
And labels for the fringe at the base.
Eventually the whole mat was ready for completion...except the middle! Words & the way they sit next to each other, are important to me. In my reading about Prayer Mats, the term 'sacred space' was used & I REALLY liked that. I see the home as a sacred space, but I needed more. The next combination of words came to me via an audio book by Laurie R King, whose character was of Jewish heritage & she described the Mezzuzah as a 'place apart'. I loved the connection to another religion based on the same God!
At last I had my words...'in this place apart, this sacred space you are welcome & safe & heard.' It may not say what the Maori man said as he welcomed me to his Marae, but it worked for me... it was what I feel & I believe that that earlier experience is still layered into the message, through the whole process of getting it to this point. So here it is...the first piece I completed for this exhibition, in fact it was started before I'd even approached Gallery M about the possibility of doing an exhibition! It is a highly personal piece & one that I am so very pleased with!
My 'Household Prayer Mat'.
*please respect that the images above are my own & not to be copied without permission. Thank you.
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