Weaving Cultural Identities

Last summer, my daughter and I had the opportunity to participate in a Vancouver Biennale project related to one of the artworks in their current exhibition. Paradise has Many Gates is a mosque made from chain link fencing. It is currently located at Vanier Park in Vancouver.

10 textile artists and 5 graphic designers were invited to create textiles in the form of prayer rugs. As part of the project, we had a series of field trips to the Al Salaam Mosque in Burnaby, to the Musqueam Cultural Pavilion, and to the archives of the Museum of Vancouver. The artists were paired with a designer to develop the concept for a rug. Our piece is called "Find What You Need". 

Weaving in progress:

There are many layers of meaning in our rug, including some hidden messages, like the peace sign drawn onto the warp threads under the circle.

The finished rug.  Viewers are invited to find their own meaning in the piece.

Weaving Our Way

The Weaving Our Way group meets at the Dunbar Community Centre twice a month. This fall many of the weavings that the group has created were exhibited, first at the Richmond City Hall Galleria, then at the UBC Nest, and finally at the Roundhouse community centre. Many of the group members donated a personal weaving that I assembled into a collaborative blanket.

You can see a video about the project here. Many thanks to the Vancouver Arts Colloquium Society for sponsoring this project.

Guatemala - Embroidery workshop with Casa Flor in Antigua

The perfect ending to the trip - an evening of crafts and cocktails courtesy of Casa Flor designs.

I came home with a bag full of their scrap fabrics that I later stitched together into a little jacket for myself.

Guatemala - backstrap weaving in San Antonio Palopo

The main reason for my trip to Guatemala in May was to learn about Mayan backstrap weaving techniques. (The trip was organized by Thread Caravan, and I can't say enough good things about them. If you are interested in learning about the Guatemalan Mayan culture and textiles, I would wholeheartly recommend a Thread Caravan trip. They also offer trips to Oaxaca, Mexico and Panama).  We spent two days weaving in San Antonio Palopo with Zenieda and her lovely family.

choosing yarn colours

preparing the warp

setting up the backstrap loom

my warp - lots going on here, I wanted to learn everything

me weaving

Zeneida admiring my (her) work)

Guatemala - natural dyeing in San Juan La Laguna

In May, I took a week off from my weaving classes, and snuck away for a quick trip to Guatemala. The trip was organized by Thread Caravan, and I can't say enough good things about them. If you are interested in learning about the Guatemalan Mayan culture and textiles, I would wholeheartly recommend a Thread Caravan trip. They also offer trips to Oaxaca, Mexico and Panama. It really was a wonderful get away - the places we stayed at in Antigua and at Lake Atitlan were both outstanding, but I wasn't just there for fun and relaxation, I wanted to learn about the Mayan textile traditions, and I got LOTS of that too. 

chilka dye pot

We spent a day with the Lema Association in San Juan La Laguna learning about dyieng with local plants. We used "chilka" to get yellow - those would be the leaves in the first photo; they smelled a lot like chamomile but they are from a large leafy shrub like plant). We used"achiote" also known as annatto for orange - this was a paste made from the seeds of a fruit; it is also used as a spice to flavour and colour food. The blue is not indigo, it is called "sacatinta" and is from the wood of a tree. It dyed the cotton yarn that they had a beautiful blue colour, but my scarf came out purple.

taking the yarn out of the dye pot

preparing the chilka leaves

achiote dye

sacatinta is supposed to be a blue dye. No idea why this scarf came out purple

2016 annual project

For the past few years, I've been working on a yearly project. In 2015 I made 52 small books - about one each week. In 2016 it was all about fabrics. Weaving, knitting, crochet, dyeing, printing, felting, stitching and embroidery all made an appearance during the year. 

I started the year thinking that I would make 52 art dolls, and I started work on the first one, but I was not feeling very inspired until I realized that I had chosen the wrong theme. I actually wanted to spend the year working with fabrics in different ways. When I made the decision to change my plans, the ideas just started to tumble out of my head. The first piece that I stitched includes the art doll that I had started - it's just flat rather than stuffed. The powder pink background fabric is some corduroy that I've had since the 1980s. Yes really - it was originally a skirt that I used to wear back in the day when pastels were all the rage. I cut it into a pair of baby pants that my kids wore when they were little. I hadn't anticipated how many memories would work their way into this project, but I love all the bits of nostalgia that got stitched into this project.

week 1-5

weeks 4-10

weeks 9-16

weeks 16-23

weeks 22-28

weeks 27-33

weeks 32-38

weeks 38-45

weeks 45-51

weeks 49-52

The whole year

Anvil Centre Residency Week 4

I didn't actually spend any time at the studio during this last week. I had several things that I needed to work on, but all my supplies are at home, and it made more sense to stay at home to work. I managed to finish the red/pink wrap which I'm going to call Maillardville since the inspiration for the shape came from my students at Place des Arts in Maillardville. I also got a good start on two other garments - a lightweight linen poncho and a white vest. Both these pieces need more work, but I'm happy with where they are going. I had been hoping to get more garments made this month since I have so many pieces of handwoven fabric, not to mention, hand dyed fabric as well as an assortment of scarves and things that I want to make into clothing. However, I realize that I can't rush the process, and I need to spend the time to let the ideas percolate. After some reflection, I've decided to devote my 2018 annual project to making garments. Rather than a weekly entry (as I've been doing for the past few years), my intention is to make one garment each month during 2018. If I make 12 pieces by the end of the year, I should have made a considerable dent in my "stash".

My very last task for my residency was a community engagement activity. I did a community weaving that was conveniently scheduled for the same day as the annual Santa Claus parade along Columbia Street. We had a really good turn out and many children contributed to the weaving. A few of them had learned about weaving at the exhibit at the Museum of Anthropology. I think they enjoyed having another opportunity to use their new skills.