The Art of Living Together
The Art of Living Together is my ongoing series translating the natural phenomenon of symbiosis* within evolution. My inspiration was ignited when traveling in Angola and South Africa, where I started researching the fascinating intermingling between different species in their development. The interaction amidst these seemingly opposite forces is emphasized through the correlation of the geometric and the organic, the abstract and the detailed, the digital and the tactile, the East and the West, the North and the South, and the old and the new. When the fragile reciprocity is precisely balanced, these dissimilar worlds smoothly collide, merge and enforce each other.
*Symbiosis is a long-term biological association between two organisms of different species. The organisms, called symbionts, can be either in a mutualistic, commensalistic, competitive or parasitic relationship; interactions which can be beneficial, neutral or harmful for either one or both species.
From digital to tactile
For Sunbirds & Tropical Flowers 2.0 I selected, re-colored, altered and adjusted various elements of more than 200 images to create the bursting composition. I translated this digital artwork to Jacquard woven textile using various weaving techniques. The yarns are from Pure New Wool, Mercerized Cotton and NewLife® Polyester and all is made within a sustainable textile production in Europe.
Sunbirds & Tropical Flowers 2.0 contains (parts of) images made by Tjitske and: Dave Newbould – Agata Create – Anindhya Sundar – Anna Christien Piebenga (my mom) – Ansie Potgieter – Bannon Morrissy – Bradley Howington – Chris – Charles – Colin Watts – David Clode – Elizabeth Explores – Ian McKenzie Vincent – James Wainscoat – Jannet Serhan – Jeff Kingma – Kara Eads – Michael Dziedzic – Natalie Sedova – Nik Jeromel -Larisa Lofitskaya – Thanate Rooprasert – maratr – Carol Behan – Madhu Shesharam – Teddy – National Guard of the United States – Benjamas – Kiaoracmguth – Trudith – Josch – Momentmal – Bryan Hanson – Heidi Simpson – Fragis – Cor Gaasbeek – Freddie – Marisa – Michael Roth – Jean vd Meulen – many unknown global artists from the open-source platforms Rawpixel and Unsplash. Thanks to all these generous people! And thanks to nature, the main source of all.
artwork © Tjitske Storm – product-photos Uppix photo exhibition Zindzi Zwietering