Ernesto Neto makes large-scale crochet creations that transport the visitor into his weaved worlds. His most recent — and largest — fiber art creation is no exception. The labyrinth exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, titled SunForceOceanLife, contains a huge netted enclosure that encourages viewers to enter within and explore its internal paths while floating in the air.
SunForceOceanLife is meant to emphasize the “cyclical interaction between the Sun and the sea to develop life on Earth,” as the name indicates. Warm colours are weaved and sewed in a spiral design on this piece. Viewers enter the work from one end and walk down a ground covered in soft, plastic balls, which challenge the visitor’s stability and balance. They’ll depart on the other side of the piece once they’ve completed the journey.
With its yellows, oranges, and greens, it’s impossible not to be reminded of the earth we live on. Neto adds, “SunForceOceanLife is about fire, the vital energy that allows life on our planet.” “With the polymer thread used in this piece, every time we finish one crocheted spiral, we burn both ends with fire in a gesture that invokes meditation, prayer, and other spiritual rites.” “I hope that the experience of this work feels like a song of appreciation to the enormous ball of fire we name the Sun, a gesture of gratitude for the energy, truth, and power it shares with us as it affects our land, oceans, and lives.”
The exhibition SunForceOceanLife will be on display at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, through September 26, 2021.
An immersive crochet work by artist Ernesto Neto encourages visitors to walk inside a hanging spiral.
