Mandala XXXI

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Artist: Susan Lenz

Title: Mandala XXXI

Attribution: Mandala XXXI, 2021, Susan Lenz

Year: 2021

Materials: Found objects hand stitched to a section of vintage quilt. Found objects include: Medical syringes, their plastic protective covers, and some other plastic part labeled "sterile"; cloth female and male figures; clock gears and spiral spring, buttons, and four red plastic lids.

Dimensions: Custom framed: 46" x 46" when hung as a diamond; 32 1/2" x 32 1/2" when hung as a square

Image Statement: As a visual artist using found objects, I work in partnership with my materials to articulate the accumulated memory inherent in discarded things. I use multiples of seemingly mundane items to put into perspective the abundance of life and the capacity to keep things as if for a "rainy day". Paper clips, keys, bottle caps, buttons, nails, plastic spoons, and old clock parts are combined with dominoes, film reels, old toys, and holiday decorations. These and so many other, often vintage items, are repetitively hand-stitched into meditative patterns on sections of old quilts, bringing an extraordinary new life to otherwise everyday things. This work started during the pandemic's "sheltering in place" and speaks to the universal desire for a place of belonging and sense of home.