The LIFE OF a line

From the point
to the line
to the tangles of everyday
I look for the way to disentangle the kinks
and hope to will something to emerge.
This is my work, always changing.

***

A point, a line, a thread create a universe. The point, however small, has been my starting place. The interaction of dots, meetings of lines at a point, the crossing of lines and new universes as they intersect, form my world.

The making of art has been a lifetime involvement, and a daily activity for me. I grew up in New York City but moved many times in my childhood, living across the United States and Central America. I learned to draw early, starting with the Ebony Black and magical mechanical colored pencils that were always on my father’s desk. As a young girl I was taught to use a needle and thread and from then on, textiles became a vehicle for deep investigation. In my teens, I learned traditional weaving techniques in Mexico, expanding my awareness of the complexity of structures within the weaving vocabulary. I did not know then where this would lead but it was always in my mind.

Cooper Union introduced me to materials, techniques, and structures previously unknown to me, opening new pathways in my work. My interest in pattern and structure across cultures remained throughout, and I later deeply researched the patterns of Kuba culture from central Congo.

In my life as an artist, the use of materials beyond their traditional purpose has long been an interest of mine and a vehicle in the evolution of my work. I now prefer to use a type of wire used for electrical purposes and a tempered wire frequently used for string instruments.

Lines have taken me places and guided me in exploring the possibilities of these worlds. In a practical sense, the line and the tangle come down to my daily encounter with life’s tangles and the tangles of my hair, willful and abundant and requiring daily time and thought. Tangles with all their complexities have loomed large in my life.

**

Lili Blumeneau Weaving Studio 1961
Cooper Union, BFA 1964
Pratt Institute 1964
CUNY Graduate Center, MA 1996-1999

contact: winbv [at] yahoo.com