Danielle Gadus

Lives and works in New York, NY, USA

Artist statement

silk + the elements tension ↔ flow intention ↔ letting go body + space + presence My media of choice are silk + the elements. The key components are body + space + presence. The exploration of silk + space encapsulates the dualities within the material and the environment, such as light and shadow; tension and flow; gravity and weightlessness. Silk alters and changes state in response to dying processes and entropic environmental conditions. I move from intentionally binding and dying the fabric to letting go and accepting the unknown as the dye creates unpredictable patterns and chromatic mid-tones. Varying degrees of tension or flow either interrupt or embody the gentle movement inherent in the material. Movement, stillness, and ephemerality bring awareness to the present moment and the felt experience of time. By exploring dualities and their relationship to architecture and inhabited spaces, I employ form as a social metaphor and question dynamics of power and release. A viewer-participant engages the work physically/sensually as they move with it. Subtleties of the experience heighten the awareness of one’s senses. Drawing from a lineage of feminine mystics across cultures, I promote a direct, unmediated experience with one’s body/sensorium and the work/space. A sense of liberation is experienced in the here and now.

Artwork