Detit Guidaí/Three Moons
My work Detit Guidaí was shown as part of the Australian Tapestry Workshop's, 2022 Artists in Residence exhibition March 2023.
Paula do Prado, Detít Guidaí/Three Moons, 2023, crochet, tapestry, coiling and beading on steel frame. Includes various vintage and new wool tapestry yarns, acrylic yarns, artist’s hair, wire, paper, glass seed beads, antique glass beads, pom pom. 100cm diameter, 116cm high
Artist Statement
I am on the edge of rio Quarai, it’s night time and I can see guidaì’s reflection on the rivers surface. I don’t know if I am above or below water. Whether I am anchored in a starry sky or held in a liquid embrace, air bubbles travelling past me up to the surface. I am here to continue to learn tending to Lajau (Ombú), our sacred tree. Lajau provides for many but it is first and foremost one of Anansi’s (spider’s) preferred places. Anansi weaves her web both by day and by night. It’s a strong web but it requires almost constant tending. Sometimes it requires Anansi to leave a familiar place for somewhere completely new and begin again. Anansi’s weaving echoes her grandmothers, the Norns who knew how to mend, tie and untie a knot. All is cycles. All is remembering so that we may re-weave our ancient connections.
I began this work in January 2022 as part of my residency at the ATW. The residency was incredibly beneficial to my practice, providing the time, space and support to develop my own technique combining a warp with crochet. It was also an opportunity to strengthen and expand existing professional networks with other artists and makers. The ATW is a one-of-a-kind organisation, both technically rigorous and supportive of experimentation. I am grateful for this exhibition opportunity as a way to continue the conversations from my residency and collective forms of remembering.
I am on the edge of rio Quarai, it’s night time and I can see guidaì’s reflection on the rivers surface. I don’t know if I am above or below water. Whether I am anchored in a starry sky or held in a liquid embrace, air bubbles travelling past me up to the surface. I am here to continue to learn tending to Lajau (Ombú), our sacred tree. Lajau provides for many but it is first and foremost one of Anansi’s (spider’s) preferred places. Anansi weaves her web both by day and by night. It’s a strong web but it requires almost constant tending. Sometimes it requires Anansi to leave a familiar place for somewhere completely new and begin again. Anansi’s weaving echoes her grandmothers, the Norns who knew how to mend, tie and untie a knot. All is cycles. All is remembering so that we may re-weave our ancient connections.
I began this work in January 2022 as part of my residency at the ATW. The residency was incredibly beneficial to my practice, providing the time, space and support to develop my own technique combining a warp with crochet. It was also an opportunity to strengthen and expand existing professional networks with other artists and makers. The ATW is a one-of-a-kind organisation, both technically rigorous and supportive of experimentation. I am grateful for this exhibition opportunity as a way to continue the conversations from my residency and collective forms of remembering.
Installation view at Australian Tapestry Workshop and images of the opening featuring past Director Antonia Syme AM. Photos by Marie-Luise Skibbe
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