Rhode Island

17th Century meets 2013

Saman Sajasi Glory (2013) RISD Museum

On sabbatical, I went to visit my godfamily in Rhode Island (where my friend Lisa is Head of Apparel at Rhode Island School of Design). Whilst pottering around RISD Museum I saw a stunning piece by Saman Sajasi Glory (2013) - woodblock and digital print on silk. A topographical map of Tehran with an overlay of Islamic tracery. It entranced me, the delicate detail, the layers of meaning, how it gently moved in the air.

I posted a photo on insta. Almost immediately Liam Byrne - with whom my ensemble CHROMA was collaborating on a programme in development at that point combining Renaissance and contemporary music - messaged me to say it reminded him of the frontspiece of one of his favourite 17th century viol pieces. He sent me a photo - and there it was: similar motifs, radiating from the same circular centre.

As the artistic lead on this programme Clare O’Connell had asked me to create performance visuals for the concerts, I had started a notebook for the project. I made some pages with these images, and left them there to percolate a little.

There was something about these elements brought together by happenstance - Liam’s 17th C viol frontspiece meeting a contemporary piece by Tehran-born Sajasi, that echoed the combining of Renaissance and contemporary music in the CHROMA programme.

Later, when making the visuals in camera, I took the circular/radial idea, and the fanning out of the motifs. (see Bending Light)

Frontspiece of 17th Century viol music from Liam Byrne’s library