GALLERY den HAAG

Though I am a writer/nomad, I never liked keeping a diary as I travelled. In 1975, I began needlepointing and thereafter kept needlepoint "diaries" -- borrowing a pattern here, putting in a few stitches there. It was a whole new way of seeing the world. The first five needlepoints were created between 1975 and 1982 as I travelled the United States and other parts of the world for the American Film Institute. From 1982 to 1993 more needlepoints were done on walks, travels, excursions, and as diaries about the many places I have lived and the many fields I have studied. The latest works touch on some of the complexity and beauty of North Indian Classical music's rhythmic and melodic patterns.

I share the pragmatic viewpoint with the weavers of Oriental rugs: colorful textiles are not for framing, they are for use. Five of the large needlepoints (mounted to be shown) have been used as pillows. GREAT-GRANDMOTHER'S LEGACY, was designed for a footstool. The ARMRESTS were used for seven years in my car. The OCTAGONAL BEANBAG has been much tossed. I use the TINTAL COIN PURSE daily. The KAIDA TABLA COVERS were a gift to my teacher, the great drummer, PANDIT SWAPAN CHAUDHURI. The TUKRA TABLE COVERS cover my own drums. The current, in-progress MUKHRA/TUKRA/CHAKRADAR will be a small rug to sit on while drumming or a rug on which to keep one's powder, hammer, and tabla covers. Use brings out the beauty of the materials, softens them, and adds to the pleasure of daily life. The meditative mood of stitching brings peace to the heart.

I started my first needlepoint by graphing the UNICORN's form. However, as I acquired experience, I graphed less. Often I work out patterns with no preliminary sketches whatever. My designs, never pre-planned, like life, are always a surprise. I don't know how they will look until they are done. Mostly, I work the continental stitch in all four directions with Persian or Appleton wool on unmarked canvas. At times, I add gold, silver, silk, rayon or cotton threads. When I needlepoint I often concentrate so completely I will stay up all night: one more stitch and one more stitch, just to see what a pattern will look like. Each of the larger pieces has taken me a year or two to complete. The collection reflects my eclectic philosophy: the world is One and -- as in the image of Indra's net -- each pearl or node reflects the whole.

My only regret in my years of needlepointing is to be the only witness of the intermediary designs before they disappeared into the whole. Recently this has been remedied. Craig Kolb and Betty Hansen have taken periodic photographs of the MUKHRA/TUKRA/CHAKRADAR needlepoint to capture these evanescent patterns. The sequence will be published when Mukra/Tukra/Chakradar is completed.