From Guest Artist Gisela Nickbakht
40″ x 29″
The story of Terry Waite immediately crossed my mind.
He was taken hostage in Beirut, kept in solitary confinement for four years.
He endured fear and loneliness but maintained his mental resilience. As mutual exercise he developed the ability to “write“ in his head, and began working on what would become his autobiography; Taken On Trust.
Despite all the horror he called this bad time also Creative Solitude
Pandemia time is a real challenge for most of the people. Still the isolation has not neccessarily be that negative, if we take the chance for creative solitude.
It developes slowly, sometimes out of boredom. But little by little ideas grow in your mind, come up from the dark, and get over the mental „ironbars“ to feel free to be creative..
For my Artcloth I used linen, wool for the mental prison bars ,discharged cotton for the „growing ideas“ and silk gaze, ironed on with Vlisofix for the poem and the „painting“
I live this upllifting, positive twist on an awful situation! Thank you for your work.
What a wonderful contribution to our definitions of isolation, Gisela. Thank you for participating.
What a gift creative solitude can be—not something that one easily attains, but perhaps born of habits of a lifetime, a natural inclination toward hope rather than despair. I feel blessed when I can access those things and find peace in creating. Your piece feels joyful, the use of color and delicacy give it a hopeful lightness. Thank you for lending your voice to our project!
Gisela, I like how your piece shows that even in solitary confinement our mind is free to conjure bright hopeful images. Thanks for creating with us, vielen Dank!