Work by Moira E Dickson :: Poem by Gerda Stevenson

textile art

In Her Ninety-Second Year

Mary Somerville, born Jedburgh, 1780, died Naples, 1872; mathematician and astronomer, for whom the term `scientist’ was coined; recipient of numerous international honours; an island in the Arctic and a crater on the moon are named after her; she predicted the discovery of Neptune.

From Quines by Gerda Stevenson

Artist’s statement

Mary Somerville 1780-1872 was an amazing woman, a mathematician and astronomer who led me to look to the stars and planets as my starting point for interpreting this poem.

I was recently introduced to Aboriginal Art through the book ‘Alhalkere, Paintings from Utopia’ by Emily Kame Kngwarreye who  looked to the heavens during her ‘dream times’ for inspiration.  I became fascinated with her ‘dot‘ paintings and as a result decided to explore this method of working. I now realise the time and effort it takes to produce a painting such as this. I decided I admired this technique so much that I would like to explore it and combine it with my stitching, resulting in this current piece of work.