INSIDE ART by AwA
W
HEN WENDY KOWYNIA walks through the door, you immediately feel her aura. She is filled with something a little wild. She is free in a way that most people only dream of. Her wardrobe, inspired by earth colors and styles lets you know this is a woman who has seen the world and brought pieces of the outside home to her soul. Aside from fashionista, Wendy is also a weaver. “What I love most about weaving is that it is an ancient technology—one of our first as a species—which allowed us to manipulate fibers into material objects that provided warmth, structure, and adornment,” said Wendy. The simplest of weaving technologies, including the backstrap loom are still in use today and create finer, stronger textiles than any machine-driven loom. According to Wendy, a loom is as easy and intuitive to understand as modern-day keypads and iPhones. Hands and minds know what to do without much instruction. For her, that is a hallmark of successful technology: ease of use. Wendy utilizes another ancient technique, meditation, every morning. “I cannot face a day without first aligning myself with intention. Otherwise I find myself quite lost,” said Wendy of her morning ritual. Her weaving is an extension of her morning meditation. “Weaving is very much a practice, an act. When I weave I am taking a thread for a walk back and forth across the 8
Winter 2022
warp. Or perhaps I should say that the thread takes me for a walk, meandering through space and time, freeing my mind to wander.” Her works bring the water, sky and earth into new forms. “My current work is inspired by the materials themselves, exploring what they can do and looking for surprises as I manipulate them. My current inspiration is water, my favorite element. I love the color of water, the way it reflects light, its mysterious depths.” Wendy is working on two new bodies of art for her upcoming solo show, titled Following the Thread, at the Arvada Center in April of 2023. The Arvada Center, located in Arvada, Colorado, is focused solely on supporting and developing Colorado artists and are the only cultural non-profit in the state to do so. Their programming includes educational opportunities, exhibits, performances and more. The first body of work is a series of folded forms with a warp, the longitudinal yarns held steady by the frame or loom, dyed in natural indigo and then painted in shades of pink. “In this series I am thinking about that time of day when the sky is pink and blue. I have long wanted to do a series in pink and blue. They are an iconic pair of colors. Is there anything quite like bubble gum pink and baby blue? Why are baby girls dressed in pink and boys in baby blue? Just because?” Art with Altitude