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Victoria Manganiello

Mantis (Striking Somewhere)

Medium:

Textile

Artist Statement:

The woven structure is a powerful representation of strength and weakness. I create my own canvases to produce paintings that illustrate the possibilities of working in multiple dimensions by adding depth and texture to the spatial aspects of the piece as well as the dimension of time. We function within society rigidly adhering to the assumed understanding of the concept of time. It is in every way that matters linear; simply stated, one thing happens before the next and after the previous. The heart beats. It follows the beat that preceded it and is, hopefully, followed by another. From the unconscious functioning of our organs to the sharing of our lives with family and friends, we draw lines to connect our experiences together, marking moments as we move. The act of weaving is linear also; however, I deviate from that prescribed path, utilizing color, tension, and density to take timelines off the straight and into the abstract path, curved by the forces of mass and gravity I am guided.

These objects, representing and embodying timelines, are simultaneously milestones in my own life, having been born and bred within the context of my life’s moments and their abstraction allows for a viewer to place themselves within the woven structure (there is room for them) and find a way to use it as a mirror into their own lives—whether from the past to the present to the future or in some other order.

 

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