Though We can appreciate Gabriel Dawe's beautiful thread art by just looking at these pictures, we're certain that these photos will never quite do them justice. In fact, we can imagine ourselves walking around these rainbow prisms and just getting lost. I asked Dawe to tell us what he hoped others got out of his artwork including what they represent. [via]
"Conceptually, these works are about the human need for shelter," he tells us. "Fashion and Architecture have many functions, but one thing they both share is that they protect us from the elements. I'm taking the main material that clothing is made out of—thread—to make an architectural structure. By reversing scale and material in this way, I end up with a structure that I see as symbolic of the social constructions humans need to survive as a species.
"Ultimately, what I want to give the viewers is an experience with light and color. The thread is so thin, that when it is used in such a large scale it kind of disappears, which is why these installations sometimes look so ethereal. It plays with perceptions and it can even mess with your sight, because your eyes don't know where to focus; it is very much like op art in this sense. Despite being static objects, they move as soon as you start moving. This is what is most challenging to capture in the documentation of the pieces, because you cannot capture that with the camera. You can have great photos, but they will never fully give you the experience of seeing them in person.
"What is very satisfying is that I hear all the time that people go back to see them and stay for half hour, experiencing the piece. They seem to be installations that really engage the mind, and as an artist I don't think I could ask for anything more."