Woodcutter’s Giant Pillow
Giant Woodcutter's Pillow 2012 Transfer montage on cotton fabric, wadding, embroidery, silk
The Story
“The Woodcutter sits in his cottage, on the periphery of ‘life’, watching films and documentaries as his only means of viewing the world. He sees the destruction that man creates and the beauty; the triumphs of nature and man-made disasters. He takes photographs of epic, reflective and emotional moments from his favourite films and uses them as inspiration to create patchwork squares for his giant pillow. As he lays his head on the pillow each night, it is a reminder of life in the world beyond the cottage."
Symbolism
Like the British Moth Throw and the Woodcutter's Quilt, the Woodcutter's Giant Pillow was created in appreciation of handmade household objects made with love, care and time, in a bid to replicate time management pre-twentieth century technological revolution while also incorporating the magic of film. Jane photographed personally poignant moments from film and documentaries, including ‘The Company of Wolves’, Neil Jordan, 1984, and created montages using the images that were then heat-transferred on cotton squares to form the patches of the quilt. Jane also hand embroidered some of the patches.
Little Red Wolf Food 2012 Patchwork square - montage with transfers on cotton and embroidery of original drawing by Robert Lee
Jane asked her husband to make some fairytale-esque Biro drawings which she copied and embroidered on patchwork squares.
Feeding Time 2012 Patchwork square - montage with transfers on cotton and embroidery of original drawing by Robert Lee
Stop Fucking with Our Bones 2012 Patchwork square - montage with transfers on cotton and embroidery of original drawing by Robert Lee
The Woodcutter's Giant Pillow, The Woodcutter's Quilt, British Moth Throw and The Woodcutter's Bed (Vono mid 20th century bed belonging to Jane's Grandmother) display at The Customs House Gallery, 2012
IMAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS;
‘The Company of Wolves’, Neil Jordan, 1984, Palace Productions; ‘Band of Brothers’, 2001, HBO; ‘Where Eagles Dare’, Brian G. Hutton, 1968, MGM; ‘Bambi’, David Hand, 1942, Walt Disney Productions; ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’, 1937, David Hand, Walt Disney Productions; embroidered drawings courtesy of Robert Lee; ‘Onegin’, Martha Fiennes, 1999, Samuel Goldwyn Films; ‘Seasons’, Ivan Ivanov-Vano, 1969, Films By Jove 1997; ‘Chernobyl: Life in the Dead Zone’, 2007, Discovery Channel; ‘Wild Russia’, Animal Planet, 2012; ‘The Shooting Party’, Anton Chekhov, Penguin Classics; ‘A Prophet’, Jacques Audiard, 2009, UGC Distribution; ‘Brotherhood of the Wolf’, Christophe Gans, 2001, Studio Canal; ‘The Tyger’, William Blake, 1794; Photograph: Laika, 1957.