Floor Talk

Re:fine at The Suter closed today. At lunch time, they had a floor talk, to which exhibiting artists were invited to take part. (Is “floor talk” an international museum/gallery terminology? Until I went to my first one, I thought the word sounded somewhat... naughty!)

I’d been to only a few floor talks at The Suter before, but they were casual lectures, so though I wasn’t too sure what was going to happen, I thought I’d make an appearance. I did ask Acting Director Julie Catchpole if I needed to prepare, and she told me to bring a sample piece people can touch.

So I went. After Julie and selector and painter Sally Burton explained about, and illustrated, Re:fine in Wellington, we were encouraged to briefly say something about our piece/s in the exhibit. And you can guess, I prattled on. In front of the art-loving crowd of Nelson who are used to hearing artists talk. Go, Newbie!!

I did remember about the samples I brought, and said, “I’m a weaver, not a fiber artists” and said how the feel and the hand was paramount in my work, and asked people to feel my samples

I am a weaver, a maker of usable textiles. In this respect, I am not an artist who make objet d’art, though I aspire to make usable textile that is also aesthetically pleasing. Just in case you got confused with my serial blather.