During these years of making I was very drawn to the mandala and the rusty items that I would find would always lead me to this place.  There was a need to compose the objects in such a way that they would together create a pattern that radiates from a center point.  I began to create a collection of garments that were made with these metal objects and lots of colors from plants and extracts.  The chemistry of these natural colors and the iron is a beautiful dance.  Awakening to the Senses was composed with prints that came from a series the year before of 7 chakra centers that I had digitally printed.  They were accompanied with layers of hand painted iron water figures of silk that represented a multi armed goddess.  It seemed to be that the scaling down of the prints worked to create harmony with the figure and hit all the points perfectly!    I also liked to work in layers so I could build a 3 dimensional quality to the panels.  This worked with silk organza and the silk haboti.

© Rio Wrenn