KAREN SPY
ARBOR VITAE
‘The idea of Shamanism in the West today is often associated with commercialized spiritual confusion and nostalgic escapism. But at a serious level it is a reminder of a human constant without which we would be drastically impoverished: the need to come into intense physical and psychological contact with the material world, to understand and feel it’s energetic substance rather than skim over the surface of experience. Without this the process of life is perilously
abstract, and another cycle of alienation is completed.’
C. Tisdall
My work pays attention to integrity and connection through attentive labour and ritual process. I incorporate myth, and significant symbolism to rediscover the inherent essential materials that keep us fundamentally connected to both ancestral wisdom and survival of the sacred.
Although my work is chiefly performative and lens based; my installations concern the aftermath of ritual process. Working intuitively with raw pigment, natural found materials and objects I have carefully made myself; hand quilted Harris Tweed woollen blankets are a metaphoric signer for my process.
1. MINDFUL ACTION OF DRAWING ATTENTION
ARBOR VITAE BY KAREN SPY
MARKET CROSS, CUPAR
10 - 11 AM, SUNDAY 11TH OCTOBER AND 9.30 - 10.30 AM, SUNDAY 18TH OCTOBER
Artist
Elm (Beeswax, Mead, Fife Ochre, Water, Menstrual Blood)
Mead
Harris Tweed Hand Quilted Blanket
Crow's Wings
Hare's Ears
*Please be aware that the road will not be closed to cars, and take care to remain on the pavement at all times while attending this performance.
2. INSTALLATION AT OLD ST COLUMBA'S SCHOOL, MILLGATE, CUPAR. (GROUND FLOOR)
TUES. - FRI. 12 NOON - 6PM, SATURDAY 10AM - 6PM, SUNDAY 1 - 4 PM (CLOSED MONDAYS)
