Ljubljana, 9 May 2013
At the beginning of the year I was invited to take part in a bobbin-lace exhibition at the Museum of Embroidery and Textiles in Valtopina, Italy. The lace piece was meant for a fan and tied to one of the four elements: earth, air, fire or water. I chose air, as a fan creates wind — and the word “wind” immediately brought to mind a detail from Botticelli’s Primavera. It shows Zephyr (the personification of wind) attempting to abduct the nymph; she is startled and, instead of a scream, flowers pour from her mouth.
I wanted my lace to capture the scene’s dynamic, which I amplified with long, undulating lines in the nymph’s dress. The making was demanding and time-consuming: over fifty hours of work, using silk, cotton, linen and metallic thread.
The lace will be exhibited in Valtopina from summer until the end of the year (2013), and later shown in my gallery — and possibly at other occasional exhibitions.
