Seeking Insight… Unity? While the earliest origins of true knitting are still debated, the practice known as nalbinding is thought to have been introduced to the rest of Europe through the Arab trade routes. Also known as Egyptian Coptic or single needle knitting, it has been dated back to 3rd century. My work is a blend of this ancient process of nalbinding and more recent knitting techniques. The knitted wire becomes a line of thought, as it meanders round in and out interlocking the work together, in a quest to entwine two cultures that are very different.

I have experienced religion as always being on the outer. I have no formal religion but I believe that every person knows instinctively what is just and what is not, and that the goodness within themselves will prevail. Growing up in a small, all European Australian rural town distant from the city, limited my early experience of diverse cultures and ethnicities. Religion, race and culture other than my own intrigue me. I look intently at the skins, cultural garments and traditions that make each of them unique, as if to absorb how I am different.

This body of work seeks to explore the extent our knowledge of Islam and investigates some of the principles behind this religion. After Christianity, Islam is the second largest religion in the world. Using the medium of knitting as a metaphor for the spread of Islam and its integration into other civilizations through out history, I have attempted to explore how present Islamic culture fits within Australian culture. I hope to encourage the viewer to look beyond what the media is presenting and to ask questions and consider our personal perceptions of Islam.

“In nature we find patterns, designs and structures from the most miniscule particles, to expressions of life discernible by human eyes to the greater cosmos. These inevitably follow geometrical archetypes, which reveal to us the nature of each form and its vibrational resonances. They are also symbolic of the underlying metaphysical principle of the inseparable relationship of the part to the whole. It is this principle of oneness underlying all geometry that permeates the architecture of all form in its myriad diversity. This principle of interconnectedness, inseparability and union provides us with a continuous reminder of our relationship to the whole, a blueprint for the mind to the sacred foundation of all things created.” 1

Tania is asking us to look inside ourselves, to search in that space before history erased our memory, when we perceived ourselves as connected to nature, to the cosmos, to the divine. Before the age of reason when logic dulled our senses, separated man from nature and declared our bodies a machine thereby relegating consciousness to another realm. She wants us to reclaim that part of ourselves in order to see once again the connectedness of all things. Her love of nature has led her to investigate the underlying geometry of growth and pattern that constantly surrounds us. Rather than imposing a set of predetermined semantic content on us/the viewer meaning is revealed through a series of forms and the process of knitting. Spheres, domes, minarets and a figure have been meticulously constructed from fencing wire, the kind that is used to fence paddocks. She also uses tie wire and copper wire for the finer detail. Tania’s preoccupation with these patterns of growth and the underlying structures in nature has revealed the complexity of creation, the proportions of the golden mean and the Fibonacci spiral. Her wire forms are drawings in 3 dimensions, “I don’t write, I draw with the wire, it inspires my thought processes – connection – wired – flexibility of mind and body, rerouting, retraining…I love numbers”2. Much like automatic writing the works begin from a point of nothingness and spiral continuously upwards forming patterns, forming spheres, a figure, forming forms until the room is full. One feels these forms will just keep on multiplying. But at the same time they are contained and containing, they appear cellular and expand and contract in a similar way, 2 becomes 4, then 6, then 8…..then repeating the process again.

Tania has used an ancient process known to craftsmen in the Middle East and Europe that predates all other forms of knitting – ‘Nalbinding’ which is a form of knotless netting. She has modified this technique for wire use and makes the

spherical forms from one continuous line. The wire begins from one point and winds/weaves its way through a figure, domes and countless smaller forms, Ayers Rock and the Opera House. This weaving of culture, nature and the human body is a way of equalizing them all through stitch; the work transcends hierarchical binarism and presents the viewer with an abstract idea of unity to contemplate this possibility. The sameness forces the viewer to search for other meanings and other contexts. The wire is flexible, malleable and strong as if to oppose the inflexibility of preconceived ideas about Islam.

By using Australian iconography along with Islamic forms Tania is asking the viewer to consider a rethinking of Islam within our own culture.

Tania’s history shows her involvement in social/political issues and community. She is passionate about life and her surroundings, for her the personal is political and she doesn’t shy away from her truth. “The genesis of this work lies in the aftermath of the Bali bombings – a school classmate was killed there. The first works (2002) were a photographic installation of blood red ice melting and dripping on to party furniture along with burnt, twisted and singed plastic wine glasses. This body of work is more questioning and contemplative, it’s moved on”. 3 Her recent body of work shown at the Gomboc Gallery, Sculpture Survey 2007, draws our attention to a form of plant immigration that has ended up infesting our waterways and national parks. They are plants that were imported for our garden pleasure (arum lilies, bridal creeper, morning glory) but we have allowed them to escape being willing to relegate responsibility to someone else, and so it is with this body of work we are being asked to consider what is best for the community/ourselves.

She doesn’t regard art as separate from life and continues to use her chosen medium to comment on, ask questions and poke and prod the viewer out of complacency. In this new work we are being invited to look again at a culture that has much to offer but is so different from ours that we have labelled it/are scared by it and have bound it up in an us versus them set of oppositions.

A tall order in a western culture that doesn’t expound oneness but duality,separateness and fragmentation. Or is it? Our culture has been dominated by the idea of duality since we embraced the philosophy of Descartes where the soul was separated from nature (and by inference the body) which philosophical thought is still trying to reconcile. “Descartes distinguished two kinds of substances: a thinking substance (res cogitans,

mind) from an extended substance (res extensa, body) only the latter, he believed, could be considered part of nature, governed by its physical laws and ontological exigencies. The body is a self- moving machine, a mechanical device, functioning according to causal laws and the laws of nature. The mind, the thinking substance, the soul, or consciousness, has no place in the natural world. This exclusion of the soul from nature, this evacuation of consciousness from the world is the prerequisite for founding a knowledge, or better, a science of the governing principles of nature.”4 It is this type of thinking that established the hierarchy of man over nature and other binaries mind/body, male/female, logic/emotion, theory/practice with the first term superior to the second. It is only an extension then to include here Christianity versus Islam. “My work is asking people to transcend this type of thinking”.5

The ancient Sufis regarded geometry as fundamental to their religion, a branch of Islam. Architect Keith Critchlow, an advocate of the theory of sacred architectural principles and currently teaching at the Royal College of Art asserts “Islam’s concentration on geometric patterns draws attention away from the representational world to one of pure forms, poised tensions and dynamic equilibrium, giving structural insight into the workings of the inner self and their reflection in the universe”. 6 The affirmation of unity is expressed in diversity, the primary function of patterning being to guide the mind from the mundane world of appearances to the underlying spiritual reality. 7

Sacred geometry espouses the sphere as being a form of no fixed positions. In the work ‘Unity - Body, Mind, Soul’ Tania has used spheres and a material of the everyday to break down the polarities of difference and reject hierarchies. This work is really an investigation into the realm of the unknown and she follows many artists of the past who in times of crisis have used art to comment on their times. Arte Povera artists eschewed hierarchical domination of materials and techniques by using the commonplace, the everyday. They experimented with a complete openness towards materials and processes, revealing the elemental forces locked within them. They were interested in the relationship between art and life and placed the viewer at the centre of the discussion between experience and meaning.8

By asking her question Tania is also placing us/the viewer at the centre of her inquiry and to identify with the figure ‘Reflect – Arabesque’, Tania has spiralled her way back in time to uncover/recover what truths may be lurking there. The word

UNITY – WHOLENESS –ONENESS–THE CONNECTION WITH THE DIVINE?

Front Cover:Unity: Mind, Body, Soul, 2007Maquette, galvanised wire

State Dome, detail, 2007galvanised wire, copper wire, coated wire, netting clips, galvanised metal,100x100x30cm

Bali Memorial, 2002Photography, ice, acrylic glasses, dimensions variable

“knit” has other connotations – “heal, join, mend, unite”.9 By using the fencing wire, a material that binds, contains, holds, Tania has knitted a boundary around a space that has both interior and exterior surfaces visible. The wire skin resembles a membrane, a transparent barrier containing/protecting the space within. The skin like exterior is porous and we gaze inside at the space which is active and dynamic resembling an alchemist’s cauldron – it is here that we wait for the transformation/integration to take place. In ‘Unity - Mind, Body, Soul’, a work representing self, Tania has transcended the binaries mind/body and included spirit to form the unity awaiting us all. The process of knitting has cemented this idea and taken us to a whole new level where we as the community can be involved in this very inclusive work. Can we rise above duality to achieve unity? Can we understand and integrate difference without being subsumed by it? I feel this is a work full of possibilities and as Tania says “The answer is in the rug on my lounge room floor, the patterning on my wallpaper and the afghan camels roaming around central Australia…it’s been here a long time.”10

Pauline WhitePauline White is an Artist, Writer, Lecturer and Curator

1. Bruce Rawles, www.geometrycode.com/sg/index.shtml2. Tania Spencer in conversation with the author, 21st June,3. Tania Spencer in conversation with the author, 11th July 074. Elizabeth Grosz, (1994), Volatile Bodies, Allen & Unwin, p6 5. Tania Spencer in conversation with the author, 17th July 076. Keith Critchlow, (1976) Islamic Patterns; An Analytical and

Cosmological Approach, Thames & Hudson, p87. Ibid, back cover8. Tate Modern website www.tate.org.uk9. Meriam Webster Dictionary (1997) Redwood Editions10. Tania Spencer in conversation with the author, 13th July 07

Submission: Affirmation, Prayer, Almsgiving, Fasting, Pilgrimage, 2007Coated wire, 5 pieces 1x40x47cm, 4x16x47cm

Oasis: Desert, 2007galvanised wire, galvanised metal, 100x100cm

Nomad: Settler, 2007galvanised wire, galvanised metal, 100x100cm

Thankyou to the following for their advice and mentoringPauline White Michelle SlarkeVicki O’Shea Michael WiseBarbara Cotter, Pauline Williams and staff at the John Curtin Gallery

A special thankyou to my family for their supportDarren Spencer Elizabeth SpencerAlan Richter Sandra Richter

Photography Tania Spencer & Craig Richter

Tania Spencer Lake Grace, Western Australia

Curriculum Vitae

Art Education: 1999-present Curtin College of Higher Education Certificate 3 in Art Fundamentals 2002-2005 Assoc. Deg. in Fine Art, Curtin University of Technology2006-2007 Bachelor of Arts (Visual) Curtin University o Technology

Solo Exhibitions2008 Kalgoorlie Mining Hall of Fame2007 Seeking Insight… Unity? Access Gallery, John Curtin Gallery, Curtin University of Technology

Group Exhibitions:2007 Sculpture Survey 2007, Gomboc Gallery and Sculpture Park. Artbound Sculpture Award, Southbound Festival, Busselton Castaways Sculptural Art Awards, City of Rockingham City of Melville Sculpture Walk, Piney Lakes Environmental Centre, Winthrop Over the Garden Fence and in the Bush Lake Grace Multi-Artspace, Lake Grace Boardwalk Sculpture Festival & Award, Mindarie

2006 Dare to Differ: Contemporary Quilts, Prospect Gallery, Adelaide Hotspot, PIAF Regional Group Exhibition, Lake Grace Multi-Artspace, Lake Grace Quick Quilts, Lake Grace Multi-Artspace, Lake Grace Art 2 Wear, garment and performance Lake Grace Multi-Artspace, Field Day,

Newdegate City of Melville Art Sculpture Award, Melville Wheat, Lake Grace Multi-Artspace, Lake Grace Misinformation, Wheatbelt Cultural Forum, Temporary Exhibition Space, Lake

Grace Curtin University Art Graduates Exhibition, Margaret River Education Campus

2005 Liminal, PIAF Regional Group Exhibition, Lake Grace Multi-Artspace in conjunction with Vancouver Arts Centre, Albany

Art 2 Wear, performance and garment exhibition, Lake Grace Chair, Invitational Exhibition, Lake Grace Multi-Artspace2004 Welcome, PIAF Regional Group Exhibition, Albany Port2002 Our Salt Lakes, Lake Grace2001 Prints Plus, Lake Grace Art Fundamentals Student Exhibition, The Cannery, Esperance 2000 Reflections, Lake Grace

Awards:2007 Curtin Guild Grant “On Show” Access Gallery, John Curtin Gallery, Curtin

University of Technology, Perth 2006 Judges Choice - City of Melville Art Awards 2006 Finalist - Artbound Sculpture Award, Southbound Festival 2007, Busselton

Collections:City Of Melville, Walker’s Vineyard, various private collections.

Reflect: Arabesque, 2007galvanised wirefigure 160x50cm, wall 40x80cm

Integration, 2007galvanised wireWall installation – 6 pieces, 1x14x5cm, 4x18x5cm, 1x22x6cm

My mother and grandmother taught me to knit and crochet. I was about 8 years old when my father gave me a pair of pliers and a roll of copper wire to play with. I still have the pliers and since then, a coil of wire has never been far from my side. Combining the materials and skills was a natural progression. I like the flexibility, structural integrity and coolness of the wire in my hands and the possibility of creating three dimensional forms from a linear element.

As a child I was exposed to the CWA craft movement, learning the skills to make ribbon roses, macramé and other crafts from this group of older women. Traditionally, women’s domestic craft has played a very important role in small country communities; it has provided a means from which to clothe families and decorate homes. Learning craft skills has created opportunities to socialize; make lifelong friends and provided a means to celebrate important events. It allows both for the creative expression of individuals, and the sharing of skills over the generations. These communal activities and familial influences reflect strongly in the methods and materials I use, and are evident through much of my work.

Additional influences include the rural ‘make do’ heritage and the minimal nature of Japanese design. In contrast, the intricacies in designs of lace, wallpaper, linoleum, china patterns and the decorative elements on buildings fascinate me. I am interested in mathematics and number patterns. The Fibonacci sequence, hyperbolic space and fractals in relation to transformation, growth and decay in nature intrigue me, as does geometry and its links to pattern and repetition. I highly value the ability of touch to sense texture and experience my surroundings - to touch is to fully realize. I am inspired by artists Jill Parnell (WA), Bronwyn Oliver, Carlier Makigawa, (national) Arline Fisch, Elizabeth Berrien, Ruth Asawa, Ruth Lee, Blanka Sperkova, William Morris, Sarah Parker Eaton and Louise Hibbert (international).

Situating knitted sculpture within the gallery and in the wider environment directs attention to often overlooked domestic crafts, thereby reinforcing the value that previous generations have placed on the practice of hand knitting. I choose to work in an area that questions the categorizing of art; my practice sits firmly at the juncture of domestic textiles and sculpture. It is crafted art. My works are multi-layered, exploring technique and process, rural and domestic heritage and thought-provoking social themes.

Access Gallery, John Curtin Gallery, Building 200, Curtin University of Technology, Kent St, Bentley

ph 9266 4155 fax 9266 3878gallery@curtin.edu.au

www.johncurtingallery.curtin.edu.au

Acknowledgements

Sponsored by:

Published on the occasion of the exhibition:

Seeking Insight…Unity?23 July – 12 August 2007

Seeking Insight…Unity?

TaniaSpencer