Tuesday, May 20, 2008

artist appreciating natural beauty

Pink Emperor II
Gum Moth (wall panel)

Annemeike Mein. I remember the first time I saw her work. It was when I was studying Year 11 textiles, and I was blown away but the amount of detail and texture that was captured by her passionate stitching. Absolutely incredible. It really was awe inspiring. Only recently did this memory come back to me, when I saw her book for sale at Stampington.

For me Annemeike Mein's textile sculptures are a pivotal example of an artist expressing her appreciation for the natural beauty that surrounds us. Have you ever seen a moth look so beautiful? I read that some of her works are in public places, and that you are encouraged to touch them! Oh sensory delight! My fingers are tingling!

A little bit of history about Annemeike Mein. She was born in Holland, and moved to Australia as a child. She loved to draw and collect butterflies, dragon flies and other fascinating insects. At school she was encouraged to explore lots of different mediums. I guess alot has happened in between but she is now regarded as one of the worlds leading textile artists. You can see that she draws on the beauty of nature for her inspiration. Preservation and awareness are one of her most motivating influences.


"Through my textiles, whether sculptures, wall works, or 'wearables,' I hope to make people more aware of our native species while expressing my love and concern for our native environment".

And I sense that passion in her tactile works. She is definitely an artist who has inspired me to create more tactileness in my art.


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nic this is incredible but I spent ages yesterday trying to find if Annemeike Mein had a website or blog ... sadly I didn't fine one but if you or any of your fellow bloggers do please let me know as I would love to learn more about her. I'm amazed that you remember her from high school that no doubt is around the time I first saw her work [only in photographs] - I did have a craft book with a write-up about her & her work but no doubt sold it when I shifted but I can still see what she had made - in all shades of olive greens & browns as it was moths too ... Is this great minds thinking alike??? I'm finding myself moving into textile art of late...

Anonymous said...

Bethel, i also spent a lot of time looking for and her artwork on the net..but found very little. maybe her books are the best place to find out more.

Anonymous said...

WOW....that's beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Hey Nic, the Tmba Art Gallery has a gorgeous textile butterfly like this one....women in textiles...we can all appreciate the beauty..Love Jude