Lani Burshtein
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Attachment Theory is a body of print and textile-based work that explores the history, functionality and materiality of knots. As a tool, a weapon and a decoration, knots appear across the world in many different cultures and disciplines; they hold significance in religions and appear in the mythologies of ancient societies. The project was inspired by Newfoundland's nautical culture and its historic connections to Ireland, with its Celtic-influenced decorative knotwork. Using traditional printmaking and basketry coiling techniques, the nearly endless symbolic possibilities of knotting and knotwork are explored with a sense of playful experimentation. Several wild plants and grasses collected in St. John's are interwoven into the artwork, establishing a local connection to the natural world of the city and surrounding coastline. The metaphor of the knot provides a basis for examination of the nature of connection, detachment, fixation and rootlessness; a shifting series of problems ripe for an artist's investigation.
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Round Turn
2018
recycled fabrics, natural plant material
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Ties That Bind
2018
etching and aquatint
This print addresses knots as metaphor for relationships and marriage. Marriage is referred to as "tying the knot," or handfasting ceremonies incorporate actual knot-tying into the marriage ceremony. Friendship bracelets and wedding veils and wedding rings all reference the knot as a symbol of bonds between friends or lovers.
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The Gordian Knot
2017
etching with chine colle
The Gordian Knot was inspired by knots in mythology and religion. The "Gordian knot" is the famous knot from Greek mythology which Alexander the Great "untied" by cutting. Other knots referencing in this piece include the pasha, or supernatural lasso, of Hindu iconography, and Chinese endless knots.
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Lifeline
2018
drypoint, chine colle and hand-colouring
Lifeline addresses the life-saving properties of knots—from surgical sutures to rock climbing belay knots and bowline knots for aquatic rescues.
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Knotty Bough
2018
collograph with hand-colouring
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Installation view of Ties That Bind, The Gordian Knot and The End of the Beginning
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Over, Under
2018
Artist book with Japanese stab binding
letterpress, monoprints and embroidery
The monoprints in Over, Under were made using plants, old cardboard and fabrics collected from the streets of St. John's. This book explores the natural and manmade knots through tactility. Each print is unique, and was made using an experimental process of printing onto plexiglass, and then offset printing the plexiglass onto paper.
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Over, Under
inside cover view
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Over, Under
interior view 1
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Over, Under
interior view 2
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Over, Under
interior view 3
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Over, Under
interior view 3, detail
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Over, Under
back cover and colophon
