Mend: to make (something broken, worn, torn, or otherwise damaged) whole, sound, or usable by repairing ....
Looking at these images I could add ....
Mend: to beautify and to create art.
"When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold. They believe that when something's suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful." - Billie Mobayed
Kintsugi: the artful repair of damaged things.
American 18th century carved (and repaired) bowl.
I love the fact that Lawrence Carroll's canvases are stitched, patched, stapled and mended. Hester van Dapperen also slices through the canvas of her color field paintings and mends them.
"Mutilations of historical works in museums inspired me to cut in planes of color. The knife in cloth gives a tension and requires on-going effort of the painter. Sutures and operations with crooked needle and twine followed. The scars in combination with added paint become an integral part of the canvas. They lead the search for the essence behind the work". - Hester van Dapperen
Lea McComas became involved in the Peace Quilt challenge when she heard about a "call for solidarity of the women of the world to work together to defend and protect women in times of conflict and to empower women to be active agents in the peace process."
"My quilt began as a collage of photos collected over a decade of living, working, and traveling overseas. Many of the photos are my own. A friend who has traveled extensively as a medical volunteer contributed others. The photos were printed onto fabric, pieced together with scraps, and quilted in a very traditional manner. The quilt was then torn, cut, burned and shot; literally tearing families apart. Finally, a woman's hands were added to the top using fused applique and shown working to stop the destruction, mend the damage, and repair the vision." - Lea McComas
