21 4 / 2012
Foreclosure Quilts - Kathryn Clark
“My previous work as an urban planner made me acutely aware of how big an impact the foreclosure crisis would have on our cities and towns throughout the United States. However, very little was mentioned in the news.
It was important to me to present the whole story in a way that would captivate people’s attention and make a memorable statement. Making map quilts seemed an ironic solution. Quilts act as a functional memory, an historical record of difficult times. It is during times of hardship that people have traditionally made quilts, often resorting to scraps of cloth when so poor they could not afford to waste a single thread of fabric.
The neighborhoods shown are not an anomaly; they are a recurring pattern seen from coast to coast, urban to suburban neighborhoods across the US. The problem has not been solved, it is still occurring, just changing shape, affecting more of us.”
For more information read her blog post about the series and an article from The Atlantic.
Kathryn Clark worked as an architectural and urban designer for seven years before becoming a full time artist in 2005. A traditional painter and photographer for twenty years, her studio slowly became full of remnants of yarn, wire and stacks of linen and burlap. One day, she put the paints and paintbrushes away, pulled out the fabrics and began sewing and layering thread.
Kathryn’s work revolves around the wabi-sabi principles of simplicity and awareness of time. Sewing and weaving express the time and effort it takes to create each piece while emphasizing the simplicity of needle and thread. She also writes a blog to inspire and inform other artists who work in the unique genre called Articraft: artists who use craft in their work and craftspeople who make art: www.kathrynclark.blogspot.com
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17 4 / 2012
Agustina Woodgate is an Argentinian-born artist now residing in Miami, FL. For the O, Miami poetry festival Woodgate “poetry bombed” thrift stores by sewing poems into the clothes. I found this to be a lighter take on shop dropping. Both the “traditional” form of shop dropping and Woodgate’s poetry bombing create an unexpected moment for the finder. However, instead of commenting on capitalism and/or production Woodgate’s mission is to displace poetry and create an unexpected and happy moment for the finder.
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16 4 / 2012
Picture from nctimes.com
Terrilyn Quick is speaking up for women and bringing awareness of women’s health issues. She has displayed uteruses embroidered by women all over in museums to do just that. You can get involved as she is asking people from all over to participate and she will send you a pack. You can look for her on Facebook or visit her Uterus Project Blog, here.
“It’s the room we all came from,” she said about the uterus. “Everybody’s connected to it somehow, so everybody somehow has a story to tell…” Read more, here.
Get involved and/or spread the word…
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11 4 / 2012
ORLY COGAN
“Orly Cogan’s work ranges from two-dimensional wall pieces to installations and photography, exploring the conventions of femininity through stitching into vintage fabrics. Her pieces are like pages of a sketchbook full of drawings which Cogan explores through more contrived compositions verging on fantasy. Embroidered female forms interact with each other and discreet objects, exploring feminine archetypes such as the Madonna/whore, the femme fatale and the beauty queen. Cogan plays with feminine sexuality and perspective, allegorical and abject in her narrative.”
(taken from ‘Contemporary Textiles’, black dog publishing)
(via dirtylibrarianthoughts)
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11 4 / 2012
"American mass culture had gotten so far away from prizing personal ingenuity that mainstream media acknowledgement, in the form of endless features on the so-called DIY movement, was required to bring back a sense that individuals could have influence on their own surroundings. A Martha Stewart Show. A magazine about dumpster diving. Crafting, repurposing, reclying- whatever you call it, it was rarely presented as a means of going about a life. It was an aesthetic. You subscribed to the magazine, bought the tools, watched the show. You did not turn your television on its back, smash the screen, and us it as a planter. The website Etsy took off, craft fairs, boutique shops. You could buy anything you wanted from locally made craftspeople instead of big-box stores. The DIY movement was primarily a way to accessorize, a brand new way to consume."
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08 4 / 2012
Snow Fooling by Meg Swanson
Threads magazine, issue #39, p.78
found on: www.craftstylish.com
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06 4 / 2012
Research Survey - Update
The research survey is now closed. Thank you to everyone who participated! And thank you to all of the Tumblr folks who reblogged and Twitter users who retweeted! You helped me surpass my goal of 100 participants. I hope to post the results soon. You can still go to this link if you want to comment about your thoughts on the survey.
05 4 / 2012
Erin M Riley
In an October 27th, 2011 post on Amusing Yarns, the blogger writes about Erin’s work:
“Riley’s tapestries, in a modern-day twist of this theme, depict young women offering sexual imagery of themselves, but unlike Philomela, who sacrifices what is left of her modesty to tell the tale of her suffering with the view of getting justice, the young women in Riley’s tapestries appear to have sacrificed their modesty without any coercion and with very little care for the potential fallout. In some ways, I see Riley’s hand-woven tapestries as a proxy for these girls, giving voice to an unconscious victim. Riley weaves her sorrow, her rage, and her accusation into the work and perhaps she directs her response to both the young women who blindly participate in their own objectification and the male-centric culture which encourages them. The work is simultaneously sad and funny, protective and accusatory. In short, Riley’s tapestries reveal that uncomfortable disconnect between the feminine and female sexuality, forcing the viewer to consider the validity of such notions.”
For more information on Erin’s work in her own words, check out the article at mr x stitch
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03 4 / 2012
Research Survey - Please Participate!
Do you consider yourself a crafter? For one of my classes I had to design an online survey. This research survey will also help my master’s thesis research. If you consider yourself a crafter please participate! Thank you for your help! (AND it’s only 10 questions.)
Please reblog!
Thanks
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