Geneviève ATTINGER
Mend the Earth, 2021
paint-stained cotton rag, plastic, technical felt, sewing needle, cotton thread, linen ribbon, florist's wire H 7.10'' x W 13.80’’ x D 7.10’'
How can we reduce to a human scale the immensity of the task of repairing the damage we are causing to our living environment - the Earth - and preserving the planet's resources and habitability for future generations? I've chosen the simple gesture of “mending”, a gesture within my reach, because solutions also depend on our individual, everyday behavior.
Geneviève ATTINGER
The Cinnabar Field, 2023
hemp, recycled jeans H 54’’ x W 52,8’’
In ancient times, the Taoists used cinnabar (red colored mercury sulfide) as a substance to prolong life and youth. Since then, in the practice of Chinese internal martial arts, the Lower Cinnabar Field is the point of the body located below the navel where the vital energy - the "Qi" or “Ch’i”- is born, concentrated and from which it spreads throughout the body. In this work, I translated the upward movement but also the propagation throughout the body of this energy. The use of colors, as well as the handling of fabric-its deconstruction and reconstruction and its fragmentation- enabled me to achieve this purpose.
Geneviève ATTINGER
La Longue Route, 2020
Cotton, linen, jeans, plastic material H 56’’ x W 42,5’’
Courtesy of photographer Catherine Juillerat , I use in my work her black and white portrait of Mr. CHU, a Vietnamese Master in embroidery. Deconstructing and reconstructing the weft in each block , tilting these blocks and keeping them in balance, using strong colors - white, black and red - all to symbolize the struggle, energy and perseverance needed to accomplish the life's long journey
