Nan Travers

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Prostitute Judge Nan Travers

Middle Grove NY

Ibegan playing with fibers and dyeing at a very early age with my mother, who was a weaver. I have fond memories of the family, mountain climbing to collect plants for her dyes. After trying many art media and different uses of fibers, I became fascinated with using paint brushes to apply dye to fabrics. Over a decade ago, I began felting, and fell in love with the sculptural qualities of felt while still being a fabric.

My latest work brings dyed fabrics and felting together in the Mother Tree series. Research by Dr. Suzanne Simard and others have shown that Mother Trees are connected to thousands of other trees in the forest below-ground through a vast fungal network. Mother Trees can send nutrients to offspring and other ‘friendly’ trees to help them grow and prosper, or pull nutrients away from or send toxins to trees that threaten her offspring. The Mother Trees series explores different dimensions of the mother archetype, and of being a mother and being mothered. Our relationships with our mothers are complex; even the best of relationships have their moments. Our relationships with our mothers embody natural tensions as we both try to hold on to what we want to believe, and at the same time differentiate ourselves to be independent and separate from each other.

Mother May I? explores the dynamic we have developed inside ourselves around asking permission of the mother archetype to go forward in our lives, and our fears that our inner mother will say “no, step back three paces.” Like the childhood game, this piece has set the Mother Tree front and center dominating the forest of her offspring, determining who will be nurtured and survive and who will be sent backwards from the rest. Mother May I? – how many times have we each asked that question? And, how much do we let the answer shadow what we do next?

Artist Damsel GossipServant REBEL Hero RescuerSLAVE Lover Don Jaun Knight SeekerHealer

Mother May I? 2021 12" x 17.5" Felting NFS woodsidepondstudios.com