The Elements of Ideas - Purple

by Caroline List :: You need to be a member to contact artists →Join :: Portfolio

This work is part of a large, sculptural project called ‘The Elements of Ideas’, which is going to be completed and exhibited in October 2015.
This project explores what fundamental elements, such as language, reflection and the senses are used by individuals to turn impressions into thoughts and creative ideas. It is going to consist of 120 small-scale objects, each symbolizing a primary building block for ideas. Using a wide variety of materials such as fabric, paper and clay, I investigate how these can be used to add symbolic and metaphorical suggestions and multiple meanings to the object. The objects of this ‘toolkit’ for ideas will have the potential to be arranged into a multitude of subjective systems.
Colour is a very subjective component as it only exists as a perception in the mind. I have built an object on each colour and ‘Purple’ investigates my personal associations with it. It is often associated with women, a connection which I wanted to make use of, but in a rather subtle/not too obvious way.
Wanting/trying to connect it to my interest in girl-childhood memories and descriptions, I recalled an image I have had in my mind since reading ‘The Middle of Somewhere’ by Sheila Gordon: Two small girls in a South African village play under a Jacaranda tree and put the blossoms over their fingers like gloves.
In the object I also wanted to include Sheila Gordon’s very distinct way of describing the sensuality (?) of colour, taste and touching objects.
This also became significant for my own hand-working/crafting of the sculpture.
All these components might not be obvious to the viewer, but by putting different stories and layers of meaning in it, I am able to bring the object to life. These suggestions, in turn, can be picked up by the viewer who can add their own associations and ideas.