2015-2019 The Quiet Thread

“While studying Buddhist philosophy in Asia, Cárdenas started creating lengthy handwritten calligraphy scrolls (hundreds of meters long) as part of her meditative practice. She soon started transforming objects and making installations with the scrolls. It was the morning ritual after long walks in the forest in Busan and the repetitive process involving writing, sewing and assemblage – similar to saying a mantra or a prayer – that gave birth to this series: “The Quiet Thread”.

The Quiet Thread was curated by Sabine Casparie and it consists of scrolls, artists’ books, sculptures and installations exploring the role that art can play in bringing to light the power of “mindfulness”. Cárdenas uses Nepalese paper, Japanese ink, thread and Swedish antique sewing and weaving tools that she collected in her trips between 2014 and 2018.”

(Extract from the press release by the Carl Jung Center, Houston, TX, Feb. 2019)

  • MINDFUL WALK, Ink, Nepal paper, calligraphy, stitches, cotton, 17 ft2 (2 m2), Carl Jung Center, Houston, TX & Grafik i Väst (2019-2021)
  • 20 meter (65 feet) Meditation scroll, calligraphy, Nepalese paper, cotton, stitches. Note: The words ‘No Mind’ have been handwritten thousands of times during meditation.
  • Note: The words ‘No Mind’ have been handwritten thousands of times during meditation (20 meter/65 feet long scroll).
  • ABORTION IN 18 LANGUAGES, ink, calligraphy, Nepal paper, stitches, dresses, Swedish abortion law in 18 languages,2018. Grand Church of Alkmaar, Netherlands (2019)
  • GIRL RISING as part of THE QUIET THREAD, Installation, 9 dresses, ink, calligraphy, Nepal paper, stitches, 2019. Carl Jung Center, Houston, TX 2019

  • PRESCRIPTIONS, 15 artists’ books (calligraphy scrolls, Nepalese paper, antidepressant strips), inst. size: 17 ft2 (2 m2), scrolls lenght 88 inches (223 cm) each, 2016-2018
  • PRESCRIPTIONS (No Mind), series of 18 Artist’s Books, alligraphy, Nepalese paper, medicine strips, 2017

  • THOUGHTS COME AND GO, WE LET THEM, calligraphy, Nepalese paper, cotton, stitching, spool 1.6 x 4 in. (4 x 10 cm) and scroll 2.4 x 43 in. (6 x 109 cm), 2018
  • HOMAGE TO WOMEN’S HANDS Installation. Materials: Swedish 1800’s wooden spool linen thread holder, handmade ink calligraphy on Nepalese paper, stitches, cotton, 2018. Size: 11.8 x 13 x 18 in. (29 x 33 x 46 cm). Scrolls lenght: 60 in. (152 cm) each
  • HOMAGE TO MOTHER’S HANDS calligraphy, Nepalese paper, antique Swedish sewing spools, 2.3 x 5 x 168 in. (6 x 13 x 426 cm) ea., 2018

  • MIGRANT VESSELS, calligraphy, Nepalese paper, stitches, cotton, antique Swedish wood weaving loom shuttles, 13.3 x 1.9 x 15.7 in. (33.7 x 4.8 x 40 cm ea.), 2018
  • I DON’T KNOW, Flax comb, flax fibers, calligraphy, thread, cotton, 8.6 x 39.4 x 3.14 in. (22 x 100 x 8 cm), 2018