The Nazca Lines can be found 400km south of Lima, along the Peruvian coastline. I flew over them in 2005. "Stretching across 500 square kilometers, the lines were etched by the Nazca people using the simple technique of digging shallow ditches and piling the earth along the edges to a height of 30cm. Many of these lines stretched for hundreds of metres, creating a spectacular collection of figures featuring more than 13,000 lines representing 18 birds as well as figures like the dog, the iguana lizard, the spider, the killer whale, the shark, the monkey and others, some of them hundreds of metres long"
Modern researchers think this was done over a period of 800 years from 370BC.
No-one knows for sure what the drawings and lines mean but some theories are that they are messages to other worlds, sacred roads or precise astronomical maps. You can read more about the fascinating Nazca lines here...http://www.world-mysteries.com/mpl_1.htm or here.....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazca_Lines
Due to the fact my piece is brown with brown stitching, it doesn't photograph well.
The new (to me) technique I used is couching. I couched thread and a strip of plastic cut from a bag, the heavier line on the quilt which represents the Pan American Highway which passes through the Nazca Lines. Straight lines were done using various stitches. One of the figures, called The Hands, I free motion quilted. In real life The Hands is 45m long, one hand having 5 fingers, the other 4. The spiral too is free motion quilted. It is thought that the many spirals mark out where the ancient Nazca people built underground canals to irrigate the desert.
The paper I chose is an old dressmaking pattern, the lines on it precise and straight like the Nasca Lines and just the right colour. The paper was torn in pieces and adhered with gel medium (a plastic like glue). I did intend to do more stitching on top but my machine didn't like it, guess I need a teflon foot. I do like the crinkly textured effect that the tissue paper and gel medium gives and plan to do another Nazca Lines piece, next time doing more stitching before adding the paper and using a darker thread.
If you get a chance to go to South America, don't miss seeing the Nazca Lines.
4 comments:
I like this. I like the puffy look the couching gave the plastic/paper background. I learned a great deal I did not know, thanks for that, and the overall effect is good looking too.
I wish everyone would choose the X-large format for their photos here as it fits the template just fine and then we can see the details of the works far better.
Robyn, I love the theme you chose. The Nazca Lines a surely a thing of wonder. Thanks for the detailed information about the construction. It is good to hear the good and bad of working in a different medium.
A subtle but very beautiful piece, Robyn, especially with all the background you provided. I love that you used the dress making patterns, and linked them with the Nazca Lines! Interesting to hear about your difficulties with sewing through all the layers, including the textile medium - I have used this in a diluted form with silk papers, and it hadn't occured to me there might be problems. I think I should go an give my machine a pat of recognition!
A beautiful piece. I love the highway through the middle of it all. And I had no clues about this piece of geography - thanks for sharing.
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