Process

Materials are the starting point of my research and contextual understanding of discarded matter and their immediate environment.

In a throwaway culture, there is an immediate urgency to question our constant need for consumption and the imprudent abandonment of materials and objects that we use in our everyday lives. The extraction, processing and disposal of materials can have significant environmental implications and as human consumption patterns continue to change rapidly, we must re-evaluate our contribution to the waste disposal crisis in our cities, towns and villages.

I am drawn to the process of discovering discarded materials and repurposing them to create experimental textile weaves. Each of the materials is washed, cleaned and deconstructed to understand their individual properties, structure and feasibility for weaving. I like to celebrate their inherent colors and textures and assemble them together to draft the warp and weft around cotton canvases. I like the works to be studies of the relationship and dialogue between the materials, myself and the act of handweaving using a simple needle to communicate my process. Hand weaving without a loom presents an intimate examination of the materials and their ability to transform beyond their present state.

Through this process, I am in a constant dialogue with the materials and the act of weaving. The purpose is to understand the materials, their properties and connection to their past histories and geographies as a way to preserve and celebrate their significance in our everyday lives.