After

WEEKS
                OF
   
    YELLOW


(I found a Friend...)

Dear Fireweed ︎︎︎
Dear Nettle ︎︎︎ 
Dear Lupine ︎︎︎ 
Dear Fern ︎︎︎
Dear Bergenia ︎︎︎
Dear Moss ︎︎︎
Dear Birch Tree ︎︎︎
Dear Blueberry ︎︎︎
Dear Violets ︎︎︎ 
Dear Forget-me-not ︎︎︎
Dear Red Campion ︎︎︎
Dear Bugleweed ︎︎︎ 
Dear Friends of mine 


✺

are you mine?
no you’re not.
Ok, still
I take what’s not mine.

taking taking taking
what’s not mine.
whose is nature?
nature is natures’
I give you time,
and space,
and care.

But I,
realise
You’re not mine.
     
I walk

    but Listen

                I take

but Care

        I feel

but let you Be

the procedure of light tells us
sweet, sweet
little lies

that you and I are not one
that you and I are not god written with a capital M

bleary-eyed & dunking pond
foaming scent of the backwards candle
your lissome fingers tie sensitive loops or bundles
of branches, and what of your desires?

tell us and we’ll find:

a malt-coloured pony
someone to take you dancing
in anonymity
or wrapped in stars
no, smothered in stars

bubbles pop along the surface
watch their lucid trails spin slowly
petals limp & thirsty creatures supine

horsetail armies chase the buttery slip of fern & tip
bleary-eyed fronds curl back
onto the green which is to lie

but who among us
hasn’t brought arms filled with surprises
by now, birthday parties in the crock

Charity, Fauna
You are my
Charity, Flora
I feel better,
feeling you
smile
But I,
am your Charity
You could
destroy me,
in no time.

Light and Shine
Fade and Shade
And I thought:
I will die, but this will live.
    But I,

                                am your Charity

You could

            destroy me,

in no time.


but who among us
hasn’t died a thousand deaths
in cavernous night or cauldron pots steaming

can you really read my mind?

o you,
forgive us not for the light
or the hues
or the lies
not for the darkness
or the blue
forgive me for I’ve trampled into our forgetfulness again
like a cold room or a spring

like you,
I’ve scattered seeds and books face open to flowers
the facts of flora heave such weighted histories
wet tourmaline and maudlin cloth
her words, her recipes
buzz like static in the rain
light hairs sticky on pistons’ spoon
let us wait this time
let us wait this time
alone
alive
for blue

I walk
but Listen
I take
but Care
I feel
but let you Be

✺

Dear Morel ︎︎︎
Dear Horsetail ︎︎︎
Dear Heather ︎︎︎
Dear Lilac ︎︎︎
Dear Speedwell ︎︎︎
Dear Sorrel ︎︎︎
Dear Pine ︎︎︎
Dear Wild Rosemary ︎︎︎ 
Dear Lupin (your flowers) ︎︎︎
Dear Thistle ︎︎︎
Dear Light, my friend



✺ Tour the full After Weeks of Yellow (I found a Friend) plant index here.



Slow Processes and anti toxic textile dyeing processes take their time, so does nature. The artist wants to value and appreciate nature and embrace this process. Bettina Willnauer spent one month at TUO TUO Residency in Joutsa, Finland. There she rediscovered and reflected her close relationship with nature and possibilities of collaborative work with it. Reflecting on transactional relationships, such as humans with nature. Transactional Relationships are those in which people interact with one another primarily for mutual benefit, rather out of genuine affection or desire from a personal connection.

All textiles in this exhibition are naturally hand-dyed and created in close cooperation with sunlight. Light develops the colors and also takes them, or softens them over time. So the textiles are evolving and won’t ever be the same like the exact day today. The artist sees the plants and greens she was collaborating with as friends and partners, whom she’s building a relationship with and caring for.

Bettina Willnauer (*1994) is currently working as an artist in Vienna. After studying at the University of Applied Arts Vienna as well as the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Copenhagen, she started off creating her dreamlike worlds where daily objects, nature and human being meet. Her practice finds expression in various areas such as textile, drawing and installation, always with bold color compositions and an intuitive formal language.

Poetic contributions and editorial support by KDH.

Many Thanks to Bundesministerium für Kunst, Kultur, öffentlichen Dienst und Sport Österreich & MA7, Kulturabteilung der Stadt Wien for supporting the After Weeks of Yellow (I found a Friend) exhibition. Thank you Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taiteen edistämiskeskus) & Kone Foundation (Koneen Säätiö) for supporting this companion publication.