Mermerosity

Das Lied von der Erde

Mermerosity

[An anticipatory state of being worried about the possible passing of the familiar and its replacement by that which does not sit comfortably in one’s sense of place. Anthropogenic culpability and enhanced empathy for the non-human.]



Du bist nicht, was du dich nenn’st. Was kam'st du, störrischer Wilder, zu storen der Wala Schlaf?

—Erda, Der Ring des Nibelungen, Richard Wagner

In this fourth tapestry, we encounter the inverse of the protective Yggdrasil, the tree shielding us from malevolence. Its trunk and branches are morphed into six weeping women, Pleureuses, seemingly emerging from the roots.

Continuing the thematic elements from previous tapestries, the apex of the foundational composition - crafted here in verdant green - takes on the appearance of arabesques, transformed into the faces and desperate hands of the Pleureuses, the mournful women.

Mourning is a profound hurt, influenced both biologically and culturally. We find ourselves on a collective journey of global mourning. In the left-hand corner, a squirrel, messenger between gods and humans, rushes to deliver troubling tidings from Mother Earth. Contemplating the vast changes unfolding, we seem lost as we navigate a Valley of Detachment, as expressed enigmatically by Erda’s words: “Thou art not what thou call’st thyself. Why hast thou, stubborn savage, come to disturb the sleep of Wala?”

Mermerosity, 2023

Needle-felted tapestry

250 x 120 cm

Knitted wool, yarn, roving on wool mix