Virginia Folkestad

“...noiseless foot of time”

Artist Statement

The work in the exhibit “...noiseless foot of time” originated after a chance reading of the following three quotes, in close succession:

“Landscape is Time Materialized” and

“Landscapes, like time, never stands still”

                                                                      ~ Barbara Bender, landscape anthropologist

And from my journal, a quote that has become the exhibition title.

“...noiseless foot of time”

                            ~ William Shakespeare  “All's Well that Ends Well”

I have, for a number of years, made art that has questioned the human relationship with nature.  This current body of work, “...noiseless foot of time”, addresses the power of landscape which, if left unattended, very quickly returns to it’s level of lowest energy.  The work, at the same time, hints at the mystery, or rather, elusiveness of time and how it is measured both physically and emotionally. e.g. “How does time seem as if it moves at different speeds depending on the occasion?” 

We use grids to divide and label the landscape; the same is true for the measurement of time.  I’ve used the grid of aluminum mesh liberally in this work, as I’m drawn to it’s organization of horizontal and vertical lines.  Sometimes I disrupt the grid but I‘m very particular about the cutting and folding of the aluminum mesh, following the lines of warp and weft.

“Landscapes like time never stand still” was the starting point for the Installation “...noiseless foot of time” with materials and form developing over a long period of time.  Over that long period of time, I worked intuitively, always with the initial concept in mind.  As the work evolved with its many changes, the initial concept remained the same and is a visible part of the work.

This Installation has been made specifically for the Sandra Phillips Gallery with each wall having work that is related, while at the same time relating conceptually as a total body of work.