Cheryl Cook
t all begins with an idea. A feeling of home, of place and of the heart. That is the driving focus of my work – to bring you the essence of my place. Through my work, I encourage you to also explore the essence of your place., to cherish how we live with connection and relationship to home, to others, to place.
That is where my City & Guild Fellowship in Creative Textiles took me…around the world while being in my studio.
My work is entrenched in the relationships we all have with the environment, the world and the people. Where the medium is of the earth. Where a partnership of natural elements and expertise generate a fusion of tactile satisfaction. To touch, to see and to plumb the depths in a new dimension takes time as each viewing will bring another nuance to the eye. It is inspired by and about where we live and how it can be viewed in many ways.
My identity within the land is embedded in my spirit and when I do my art it is a symbolic expression of that. This connection goes beyond words and is immersed in my spiritual orientation to my place.
The purpose of my work is:
- Observation of place and immersion into the physical landscape: where the stories I experience and tell gain a foothold in a culturally mystical landscape
- Forming my understandings and conceptual views into a new frame of reference utilizing various tracers and physical elements of place
- Pushing my materials beyond the accepted
- Creating based on the potential of natural materials including vegetation, cotton, felt and other textiles letting pieces come together so that they express my great satisfaction in being connected to my place through my materials and designs.