Pleiades and Papa’s Chair


Imagine about a thousand cream felt spheres, dull in texture but offering warmth and hope, suspended above you: walking among them and being able to reach for them, the desire to touch, wanting them to be warm and comforting. Hopes, dreams, desires - we all live under the same sun.

It is proposed that in August 2010 as part of the Regional Arts Australia National Conference that my work is installed in Launceston. This work will comprise of roughly a thousand cream/natural felt spheres suspended from a cluster of trees and lit at night to form magical inspiration.

The creation of Pleiades (felt spheres) will be a community project and promote conversations and healing, with the installation (whether it be in a Park or a gallery) still offering participation, as people will be encouraged to make more spheres to add to the collection. The work will promote story telling of myths and legends, of elders telling the youth stories of stars, myths, hopes, dreams and desires and while all these elements unfold around the conception, creation and life of this work the overall essence of the piece will still hold true – that we all live under the same sun. It is an extension of a series of works exploring cultural stories of the Dreaming, and other myths and legends. The work acknowledges that with all our differences we all live under the same sun – we have hopes and dreams. Its location in public places will encourage people to engage physically with this piece, while contemplating individual connections.

The spheres will be created within community groups consisting of intergenerational and multicultural activities with the support of, felters and textile guilds from around Australia, Tasmanian Regional Arts Branches and schools. In addition, when the spheres are exhibited, viewers will be encouraged to make their own to add to the collection.

The Pleiades star cluster, also known as the Seven Sisters and Messier 45, is a conspicuous object in the night sky with a prominent place in ancient mythology. The cluster contains hundreds of stars, of which only a handful are commonly visible to the unaided eye. For this reason Pleiades and the ancient mythology that surrounds this constellation have come to represent this series of works. For thousands of years, stories of hope, dreams and desire have surrounded this constellation and it appears our basic desires are still the same.