Image by http://www.illuminatedfabricartforcandles.com/events.html ZemiZen work by Cindy Male
Art as meditation.
Art as appropriation.
Art as visualization.
Art and creativity; and intention; and transformation.
Artist and yoga teacher Cindy Male was inspired to create the ZemiZen textile exhibition in Beaufort as a result of years of study regarding mind/brain theory and creativity. Experience these six stages of creativity to bring around change in your own life, or simply enjoy the fibre work of an artist based in St. Croix, USVI, while she's in Beaufort at ARTworks.
“This 8-piece fabric installation shows the commonality of two very different cultures by using Caribbean indigenous Taino Indian images of zemis and mythic characters, and the Asian Fung Shui bagua tradition," explained Male. "All people have the same needs and desires. Art illustrates our various belief systems and the various ways we process our responses to those basic needs and desires. For me, the gaiety and storytelling nature of islanders’ traditional rituals, an outward processing of spirituality, is juxtaposed with the quiet, inward, meditative spirituality of Zen."
The opening reception at ARTworks in Beaufort Town Center is free to the public, and includes a fashion walk, and an educational look at the Taino and Zen cultures, on Friday, July 16, 6-8pm. Male's juxtaposition of Taino Heart and the Zen Head designs also has streak of traditional Japanese kimono. The textiles were designed by Male using various pigment and dye techniques on silk noil; this cultural fusion fabric installation runs through August 28th.
"The patterns reference chaos theory and fractal geometry, our latest paradigm for understanding the world we live in," said Male. Her belief that the creative endeavor offers human kind a way to commune with the higher self is the inspiration for her teaching and art education career. “The use of fabric elevates art beyond pharaoh, king, church, and gallery to individual utilitarian use for the purpose of accessing ground zero, chi, prana, ashe on a daily basis in everyday tasks.”
Male holds a BS in interior design, a teaching certification in art and special education, a Masters in Creativity Development, and an MFA in fabric. She has studied fashion at Fashion Institute in NYC and art history, drawing, and printmaking in Italy. Male has been practicing yoga since 1970.
Creativity Workshop
Every evening from 6:30 to 8:30 the week of July 19-23, Cindy Male, fiber artist from St. Croix, USVI, will be conducting a workshop on Creativity. This workshop is to encourage participants to relax into their creativity and to learn to use the creative process to bring about change in their lives. Participants will take a creativity test, investigate their own personal creative aspects, find their own personal creative outlet, explore content and media for art making, and learn how to guide personal creative exploration. Male has given this workshop in Atlanta at the Woodruff Art Center, and at the Deepok Chopra Center for cancer patients, among many other places and spaces. The workshop is $180 for all five classes. Sign up by calling 843-379 2787.
Refer to: http://www.illuminatedfabricartforcandles.com/events.html for more complete information on class goals.
ZemiZenproject is partially funded through a grant from the Arts Council of Beaufort County with funds from the City of Beaufort and SC Arts Commission through the NEA. Additional funding is from the John & Susan Bennett Memorial Arts Fund of the Coastal Community Foundation of SC.