For many artists it's about taking imagination seriously. Janet Echelman was one of those people. She would find ordinary material like fishnet and she uses it today to create permanent, billowing, graceful forms at the scale of hard-edge buildings. She was one of the most unlikely people to be doing this because she didn't study art. She applied to seven art schools, but she was rejected by all seven. She then decided to become an artist on her own and she painted for ten years. She was offered to do art work in India in a fishing village. She had to do something the fishing village would be famous for in sculpture.
Echelman tried to do bronze casting, but it was too heavy and expensive. Then she saw the fishing nets, which she saw everyday, but this time she say it a different way. Echelman discovered a new approach to making sculptures. A way to make volumetric forms without heavy, solid materials. When the sculpture was put, it would show every ripple of wind in constantly changing patterns. Next she moved to Lithuania and worked with the lace makers. She started to use lace in her sculptures and she wanted to change her art from being just being something to look at and turn it into something to get lost in. Later on she then tried to find a fabric that was soft enough, but permanent. Echelman learned to use the variables of a fish net factory to make lace with them.
Finally, the lace net was put up and built permanent and lost nothing in translation. For what Echelman chose to do with sculpture made people feel like they had limitless sky. I thought it was amazing how Echelman affected people around the world and changed the appearance of sculptures in a new way. I hope that someday I can create something to get lost in.
Echelman tried to do bronze casting, but it was too heavy and expensive. Then she saw the fishing nets, which she saw everyday, but this time she say it a different way. Echelman discovered a new approach to making sculptures. A way to make volumetric forms without heavy, solid materials. When the sculpture was put, it would show every ripple of wind in constantly changing patterns. Next she moved to Lithuania and worked with the lace makers. She started to use lace in her sculptures and she wanted to change her art from being just being something to look at and turn it into something to get lost in. Later on she then tried to find a fabric that was soft enough, but permanent. Echelman learned to use the variables of a fish net factory to make lace with them.
Finally, the lace net was put up and built permanent and lost nothing in translation. For what Echelman chose to do with sculpture made people feel like they had limitless sky. I thought it was amazing how Echelman affected people around the world and changed the appearance of sculptures in a new way. I hope that someday I can create something to get lost in.