ARTIST STATEMENT
The Gossip Project/Lip Service I have this theory that if we talk with people about what we have in common we can create connections and build the trust necessary to show vulnerability and talk about the things we don’t have in common… perhaps a chance to move towards civil discourse. For this project I invite people to sit with me and talk. We wear matching lipstick and drink staining beverages (coffee, tea or red wine) with the goal to staining the vintage napkins I have collected. And we talk about anything and everything. Then I randomly choose a few sentences or phrases from each conversation and write them down. Then I take all of the excerpts and make a writing. The phrases out of context read like gossip. Next I embellish the stains on the napkins with embroidery. It’s performance + community participation + conversation + selective editing + embellished lipstick monoprints on vintage napkins. I’m a multidisciplinary artist of opportunity. I collect materials, experiment with techniques & pursue my curiosities. I’m an artist of second chances working with predominantly repurposed materials. I’m a nose-to-tail artist committed to using all of the scrap I generate. I consider my practice ‘artistic improv’ with a decidedly “Yes, and…” approach. I’m a textile artist, sometimes; a feminist artist, primarily; an experimental artist, always. Every time the world speeds up, I react by slowing down– working more & more with my hands in an attempt to balance the universe.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Winnie van der Rijn is a multi-disciplinary artist of opportunity– collecting materials, experimenting with techniques and pursuing her curiosities. Her art practice includes textiles, sculpture, collage and collaboration (which she considers its own art form). She plays well with others. Winnie actively exhibits her work throughout the United States and internationally. A life long learner, Winnie graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1989 with a BA in Sociology. She is constantly trying reconcile her deeply feminist outlook and leftist Berkeley education with her military upbringing. She has studied printmaking, sculpture, metalsmithing and Marxist theory. In addition, Winnie has explored weaving, machine knitting, bookmaking, altars, exploding picture boxes, automata, shoe making, millinery, sewing, fusing, stamping, metal weaving, resin, riveting, precious metal clay and mixed media. She is wildly curious about how things are made. Her recently completed project ‘How to Dismantle the Patriarchy’ has shown in various locations including the Textile Arts Center (Brooklyn, NY), Dairy Arts (Boulder, CO), Museum of Sonoma County (Santa Rosa, CA), The New Bauhaus (Iasi Romania), Austin Peay State University (Clarksville, TN) and the self invented Museum of Natural Consequences (New York, NY). Winnie has completed residencies at the Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn, FabScrap in NYC, Chateau Orquevaux in France and MASSMoCA in Massachusetts. Winnie, a seventh generation Californian, is currently based in Boston. She and her husband are redefining what it means to be empty nesters.
© Winnie van der Rijn