Lucid Lunar Dreaming

This project consists of sound works, a moon flower garden, video work, poetic texts, a sculpture and three textile works. It has developed over time, from 2019 to 2024. It started with me recording my voice reading all the names of the moons of the solar system, the moons that were named and discovered then, but the amount keep climbing. From that I wanted to draw the moons down to earth, planting a moon garden with flowers that opens during evening at night time. While documenting the process and making illustrations of the flowers I built a bat house, after consulting a bat zoologist. Both to attract these fascinating night pollinators, and also becaus I wanted to record bat sounds for the sound works with moon names and other nature and digital sounds I was working on. The sound works kept and keeps evolving even now and will probably be part of more than live works in the future. The flowers led me to make textile works where some of the flowers are motifs. And the nightly walks I did over the years also added to the sound works but also a video work. I also made a remake of an old sound installation work that I include in this project. It is a sculpture that is made to look like an eclipse or a void, and that is why I call this version “moon eclipse”. The works inhabit symbilic themes based on the moon and the world of tarot, where I use textiles that are transparent, symbols, sounds that are dreamy and confusing, filming of water, reflections, light and the night.

By continuing the garden I keep learning about these flowers, and keeping on working with sound works with the themes I have used makes ground for new projects as well as live performances. Only two works, “Datura” and “Nicotiana” have been exhibitioned from this projects and I want show all these works together in an exhibition in the future.

Ipomoea

Ipomoea (Alba) is the last of the textile works in this series. It is hand sewn with cotton and silver thread on silk and velvet textile. This flower I chose because of its name in norwegian: Måneblomst which translates to moon flower, and it is part of the moon flower garden. Also here I chose white and transparent, light materials and with thoughts about how the plant climbs and reached upwards I made the “root” or end of the image as a knot. It is meant to almost disappear in itself, focusing on the white flowers and the illusion of an image surrounded by glittering silver that represents the moon.

Liliana Borge

Details of Ipomoea

2024

Datura

Datura (Inoxia) is one of the flowers from the moon garden I cultivate and the inspiration for this textile work. These are flowers that open during the evening and night and attract night pollinators such as moths and bats. Datura is also known as Thorn Apple, that refers to the seed pod with sharp spikes. That is why I decided to illustrate the stem of the plant as a double-edged sword. The flower is white as many of these night flowers, so I choose to work with white, reflecting, and transparent materials.

Hand sewn with silk, acrylic, cotton thread and silver tread. It is about 2 meters. Datura was shown at Østfold Art Center in the Summer Exhibition.

Liliana Borge

Details of Datura

2023

Moon eclipse

This sculpture is made of a wooden disc covered with black textile and purple neon lights attached on the back. It is meant to be hanged on a wall and in a dark room it will remind of a solar/lunar eclipse or a void you are being pulled into. It is a remake of sound installation “Void” from 2016, where i placed a sculpture in a small, dark room with sound coming from the other end as you entered.

Liliana Borge

Moon eclipse sculpture

2023

 Nicotiana

Nicotiana (Alata) is a moon flower and the inspiration for this textile work. As part of this project I have cultivated a moonlight garden with a range of flowers, such as Ipomoea Alba, Datura, Lemon balm, Ipomoea Alba and this flower. These are flowers that open in the evening and at night, and that relates back to sound works about the moons of our solar system in this project.

Based in symbolism of moons, tarot and mythology, I chose translucent and reflecting materials that talks about illusion and the subconscious. Hanging textiles for me describe both the physical and the metaphysical world, representing portals into an understanding of the intimate parts of the personality. In its softness it is gentle, covering and revealing, but also makes it easier to be distracted and lose your footing.

The work is hand sewn with two different types of silk, cotton thread and iridescent material, and the textile work about 2 meters, attached to a wooden construction. First shown at Månefestivalen and then at Østfold Art Center.

Liliana Borge

Details of Nicotiana

2022

Reflections and words disappearing - short clip

Short clip of a video work that is part of the sound section of this project. The sound works are recordings of whispering of moon names from the moons we have discovered and named in our solar system. Working with nightly field recordings of bats with nature an city sounds. I also filmed and this video is focused on reflections in water during day and night time, composed in transparent layers.

The video work and 7 sound works was finished at a residency at Notam in Oslo in 2022.

Liliana Borge

Reflections and words disappearing

2022