Gena Wasilewski: capstone

Abstract

The artist's statement: Even when I was young, I thought this world was beyond extraordinary. The neighborhood band of kids and I would discover and conjure up grandiose adventures worthy of story books in our green and trimmed backyards. My imagination ran wild as I relished in the hunt for small corners of untamed wilderness and delighted in stories that wove together the imaginary and the magical with the tangible. The natural world around me was ever abounding with simple gifts of such beauty and freedom. I collected and grasped these tightly in my memory. My textile work is steeped in childlike wonder, replaying the lovely bits of my memories and smoothing out the creases between actuality and invention. I create objects that evoke the emotions tied to nostalgia with delicate materials, soft colors and playfully rendered imagery. I utilize pattern and repetition on a small scale to mimic the actions of retracing and remembering. I hand weave, dye and assemble pieces that tell whimsical and endearing stories, bridging the existent and the make-believe. May we be ever seeking the extraordinary in the ordinary.