Isabella Becheanu

Artist Signature

Alb Negru

M.A. student
for Textile Art, with a
temporary residency
in Timioara city,
Romania.
 Text and Design created by
Gabriela Robeci

M.A. student at the Arts and Design University, Timioara.

 The Sound of Silence

Continuing the series of textile sculptures, the latest piece is an

installation that includes texture, light and sound. The texture is
guaranteed by the same use of unprocessed wool and jute
thread. For the light, an electric system is integrated in the
piece, connecting a light bulb to a battery. The sound is created
with the use of a music box, attached to the torsos arm.

This piece refers to the sound of our interior heart that can
enlighten us once we find it. In order for the viewers to find this
sound, they need to get close to the art work, embrace it, lean
their ear on the torsos chest and spin the music boxs lever.

Thus, this piece is not only a mixed-media installation, but it is

also an interactive piece of art, that remains in silence and
darkness if the public doesnt turn on the switch for the light or
doesnt spin the lever for the music box. The underlying
message is quite blunt: there can be no such a thing as art, if
there is no public to enjoy it.
 Metabiosis

Metabiosis is a 3-piece work,

created as my graduation
project for the B.A. studies in
Textile Design, at the West
University, Timioara.

Exhibited at: TIMCO Timioara for the B.A. Graduation Exhibition in 2016
VEGETAL-E online exhibtion, http://youngromanianartists.omeka.net/items/show/9
Exhibited
2017

The Heart, the Lungs and the Brain are 3 organs displayed on
monochromatic backgrounds, in order to stand out. They are
A ripped out of the body and beautified by natural elements that
R spring out of them. The decay of human society, symbolized by
T the net filled with melted pills, the fish basket, the chains or the
B
B gas mask, bring our organs to a grotesquely-devastated state.
A
O However, nature has the power to cure anything, even such a
S
X condition. Thus, all the medical plants that are good for ones
E
L heart, lungs or mind are reproduced out of felt and pinned to
P the wool sculptures. Also, I decided to use pieces of dried
R plants to underline the materiality of natural elements in
1
O contrast with man-made elements (chemical or metal).
.
J Because of the natural dried plants and the unprocessed wool,
0
E together with lavender (for preserving wool) confer these
C works a certain ambient and a subtle sent that has a
T therapeutic role for the viewers.
Exhibited
2016

Each piece is a part of the Installation entitled Metabiosis, but

can also be presented independently.
T
E T
The installations title refers to a metical term, used to define a
X I
living creature that depends on another live being in order to
T M
live in a certain environment. Such as some living things
I I
depend on others and blend into the new space creating their
L
ambiance, so do human organs dwell in their toxic elements,
I O
but depend on natural ones in order to survive and keep on
S A
living.
M R
E A
The photo on the left includes a later version, that includes a
later work, Herzschlag, created for the Miniature Arts Biennial
4/3 in Timiora, 2016.
Exhibited at Textilisme 4 Timioara 2017
Exhibited
2017

V
I
S
@
V
I
S
 Miniature Textiles

The miniature installation consists of five pieces, representing

insects, flowers, birds or gelly fish closed in jewelry boxes.
Some of the small creatures are breaking free of their wooden
and glass prison, while others are dwelling inside, getting
smaller and smaller.
The human presence is shaping environments and I wanted to
show that the need of keeping pets and that of closing animals
in limited man-made spaces is helping species survive in an
artificial place, that makes them get smaller, adapting to the
new situation, while the creatures that remain outside are
quite large and the have the ability to develop freely, colorfully
and unhindered by human presence, such as the jelly fish
staying outside the box.

Exhibited at Nearby Faraway, Umelka Gallery 2017

 A Little Breath

The miniature piece is a felt project created for Ariadne XXI

Exhibition, 2017, exhibited at the Union of Visual Artists
Gallery in Trgu-Mure city.
As the Lungs in Metabiosis represent the organs degeneration
caused by a toxic environment, this miniaturized version
symbolizes the last breath a small soul can give, locked inside a
room, suggested by the window frame.
Exhibited at Ariadne XXI Trgu-Mure 2017
 Herzschlag

The miniature wool sculpture was designed for the B.I.A.M.T.,

Biennial for Miniature Arts in 2016, from Timioara. The small
piece a modular piece that can be integrated in the Heart of
the Metabiosis Installation, or that can work on its own, as an
independent piece, entitled Herzschlag (Heart Beat).
Exhibited at B.I.A.M.T. 2016
Herzschlag integrated in Metabiosis, Rm. Vlcea Exhibition 2017
 Palmioara

The two pieces are tapestries created during the Art Residency
in Mricourt town, located in France, the region Nord-Pais-du-
Calais.
The purpose of the artistic residency was to present locals,
adults as well as children how tapestries are created.
Participants had to use creative methods to create looms for
their weavings and then work in the garden in front of the
towns Social Center, interacting with passer-bies, explaining or
showing them how to weave on a loom. There was also a
project to show children how to weave on toy looms created
out of cardboard boxes and strings. The entire Project was
attached to the retrospective exhibition of Roger Somvilles
large-scale tapestries. With the help of textile residency artists,
locals could better understand the weaving technique used for
Somvilles tapestries and actually see how they are made and
have the chance to make small pieces themselves.
Exhibited at Mricourt, France, part of Artistic Residency for Robert Somville Exhibition 2016
 Also, Curse Life / Blestem i Viaa

This piece is a textile drawing, marking an Egyptian-inspired

design on a fabric that unrolls and swings from a wooden
frame, as a flag would from its banner.
The motif of this piece is the way curses seem to blend into the
narrative of peoples lives, sometimes creating a thrill of
ancient discovery, up until thinking of that uncomfortable
feeling of one owns passing into the after life.
Exhibited at VIS@VIS Timioara 2017
Exhibited at Textilisme 2 Timioara 2015
 Swan and Eagle

The Swan and the Eagle are chosen as two animals with
powerful references in art history for its symbolism and
heraldry. These emblematic tokens of human representations
are swirling in a spiral, the movement being the key element of
the piece. The never-ending circularity shows how history
always repeats itself, always basing its power on the traditional
institutions that have always ruled.
One unique feature is the use of materials.
Untreated wool, felt and a birds wing are the natural elements
so important for the artistic piece that wants to be an organic
decent in our symbolic history.
 Paper Phoenix

This piece is an experiment of using toilet paper with the

technique of papier-mch in such a way that the materials
would never be guessed. The totemic power of the Phoenix
that rises from its ashes and comes back to life is doubled by
the materials property of burning easily. All it takes is for the
paper to be lit and the entire Phoenix would go back to its
ashes. However, in this case, only the artistic process would be
able to bring back the piece to a new life.
Exhibited at Art and Design Faculty, Timioara 2017
 The Festival of Timioaras Arts 2017

The Arts Festival takes place each year in Timioara, inviting

local artists, students and craftsmen to display their creations in
public spaces. As part of the Textile Team coordinated by
University Professor Valentina tefnescu, the students could
transform the traffic limitations placed on the street into works
of art. The purpose was to let the locals and the tourists
experience a useful objects in a different way, as if they were
textile sculptures.
References can be found on: https://www.facebook.com/FestArteTM/
 Arts Festival Timioara 2015

The annual festival for arts in Timioara sustained projects of

transforming the Botanic Park into a public exhibition space.
The Fluffy Trees Project involved wraping the trees in textile
materials, transforming them from simple elements that any
park has, into what seemed to be furry beings. The purpose
was to let locals interact with their city environment better,
attracting them to visit parks more often and to view them also
as places of finding art, not only as places for mere strolls on
weekend afteroons.
Exhibited in the Botanical Park during the Arts Festival in Timioara, 2015
 Gentle, vegetation, confusion

This piece is part of a series of experiments to represent a

picture based on 3 words chosen at random. The project was
coordinated by Valentina tefnescu, University Professor at
the West University, Timioara and the purpose was to increase
the students ability of synthetizing given tasks into a coherent
visual project.
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Visual projects exhibited at Textilisme 2016
 Sown Portrait

This is one of the works in which a series of different

techniques is used, such as sowing, embroidery, painting on
cloth, collaging material pieces. The piece is created for the
Ariadne Exhibition 2015 in Trgu-Mure.