Amanda Los – Jump

The Verve theme for a tapestry came at an opportune time for me: my husband is a brain cancer survivor.

In December 2020 our family were in the Catlins, the bottom of New Zealand’s South Island. With family and friends, we descended a steep native forest track to the famed Waipati Beach and its Cathedral Caves. It was exciting, and it was December 31st. We’d tramped down a steep hill to the beach. The exhilaration and laughter were fun! And being New Year’s Eve their youthful expectation and hope for the coming year was contagious! At some point, I said: “jump as high as you can and make sure you look happy!” It took a few attempts and a lot of laughter. This is a photograph I took of them. The action photo inspired me to do a tapestry of these kids, and although it’s not accurate, the Verve theme is in their movement, youth, and joire de vivre.

The photograph was initially traced then turned back to front and traced again. The four figures thus became eight but due to my patience running out the eight became six! The colours I kept as one for each figure.

I wanted them to stand out in the gallery, hence the black and white photo showing the colour saturation so that if you’re standing at a distance, you can still see the picture. One colour, the pink, wasn’t as vibrant but I figured people will see it when they get up close.