Good Work Opens at the Textile Arts Center

 Fiber installation (Hormoz Island, Iran) by Atefeh Khas and Tara Goodarzy

(photograph by Sharnaz Zarkesh)

I am thrilled to be participating in this exhibition in honor of May Day at the Textile Arts Center's new Oak Knit Studio Gallery in Brooklyn, NY. 'Good Work: A Celebration of Makers and the Making of Textiles' opens on Friday, April 29th from 7 to 10pm and is curated by artist/activist, Tali Weinberg.

'String Funeral' by Erica Harris

"For this juried show, artists and designers were invited to submit works for the inaugural exhibit in the Oak Knit Studio Gallery with their own broad interpretation of “Good Work.” What has emerged is a meaningful body of work that touches on labor, justice, gender, care, fair trade, the hand, immigration, community, skill and craftsmanship," curator, Tali Weinberg. 

detail from Charlene Lam's "I am a Sewing Worker"

Exhibiting artists include: Abigail Doan, Atefeh Khas, Belinda Smith, Charlene Lam, El Hombre Sobre la Tierra in collaboration with Global Goods Partners and Via Nativa, Erica Harris, Erin Considine, Hilary Steel, Jill Magi, Maya Valladares, Michele Pred, and Susan Weltman.

Good Work Workshops at the Textile Arts Center / May 1 from 2 to 5pm

Erin Considine will offer natural dye demos using dyes you can easily obtain in the grocery store or your garden. Abigail Doan will connect you with a collective of Iranian environmental fiber artists through an exchange of handmade peace bracelets. Maya Valladeres will help you screen print or stitch an image of a garment worker onto an item of clothing, bringing you closer to those who make what you wear.

Fashioning Self and the Environment: Artist and Designer Profiles Part 3

Titania Inglis S/S 2011 Collection

Titania Inglis: A Brooklyn-based fashion designer with a devoted international following, Titania is one of the most thoughtful and talented designers on the sustainable fashion scene. Her methods demonstrate state-of-the art experimental design concepts and a production strategy geared to minimize waste and needless consumption. Titania will share designs from her latest collection as well as examples of zero-waste patterning and a-to-z draping.

Fiber form by Abigail Doan

Abigail Doan and Ceca Georgieva: Environmental fiber artist and writer, Abigail Doan, currently divides her time between the U.S. and Europe, and while living in Sofia, Bulgaria, met the textile artist, Ceca Georgieva. Both share a passion for traditional costumes and fiber as well as green strategies in art making. Abigail’s recycled fiber forms and Ceca’s vegetation based accessories invite conversations on domestic crafting and ideas about fashioning self.

Recycled parachute cord cuff by Ceca Georgieva

Tara St. James/Study NY

Tara St. James of Study NY and Andria Crescioni with Awamaki Lab: Ecco Domani award-winner Tara St. James of Study NY has teamed up with the Peruvian non-profit textile artisan initiative Awamaki Lab to create one-of-a-kind wovens that bring the strands of sustainable storytelling together. “Awamaki is working with indigenous Quechua women weavers to improve their skills and increase their access to market, thereby revitalizing an endangered weaving tradition while affording Quechua women a reliable source of income.”

Awamaki Lab's artisan wovens

'Fearless Dreamer' Meiling Chen

Meiling Chen: One of the pioneering sustainable fashion designers on the New York Fashion scene, ‘Fearless Dreamer’ Meiling will share new meditations on fashion with her latest handmade creations that are embedded with intimate messages and poetic musings crafted out of fabric and thread.

Life Jackets filled with Milkweed fiber by Zoe Sheehan Saldana

Zoe Sheehan Saldana: Conceptual sculptor Zoe Sheehan Saldana uses everyday materials to create a dialogue regarding our habits of consumption, adornment practices, and definitions of functionality. She will present her milkweed-filled ‘Life Jackets’ and also show guests how to make DIY flotation belts as an example of the crossover between contemporary textiles and environmental adaptation.

'Fashioning Self and the Environment' takes place on Earth Day 2011, April 22nd from 6pm to 9pm at the Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn, NY.

Attendees must rsvp to rsvp@textileartscenter.com.

Fashioning Self and the Environment: Artist and Designer Profiles Part 2

Tali Weinberg: Brooklyn-based artist and activist Tali Weinberg creates installations and outreach projects informed by her work in human rights and fair trade advocacy, community organizing, and hands-on grassroots development. She is a current artist in residence at the Textile Arts Center, where she is helping to establish their new natural plant dye project in a shared community garden.

Eve Mosher and Renata Mann: Environmental artist Eve Mosher and fiber installation artist Renata Mann have teamed up to debut (Intra)structures for Earth Day 2011. 

(Intra)structures in progress / photo by Eve Mosher and Renata Mann

This amazing new collaboration features a ‘textile based plant growth system utilizing and embracing existing architecture in the city as well as the architecture of our lives.’ Mosher's Seeding the City project (pictured on the rooftop above) will also be shared with visitors.

Edina Tokodi of Mosstika: Brooklyn-based Hungarian artist Edina Tokodi has received international recognition for her moss graphics and greening strategies in urban spaces. Part whimsical, part subversive, and always a surprise in terms of bold placement, Mosstika’s interventions encourage us to think outside the box in terms of greening our vistas and pathways.

Xing-Zhen Chung-Hilyard and Melissa Kirgan of Eko-Lab: Currently in residence at Brooklyn Navy Yard’s Pratt Design Center For Sustainable Innovation, Xing-Zhen and Melissa are shining examples of why hand-crafted, locally-made fashion is both fashion-forward and vital to community livelihood. As veterans of NYFW’s The GreenShows and collaborators with artists such as Jennifer Wen Ma, the duo will share a bit of what constitutes the ‘lab in eko’.

'Fashioning Self and the Environment' takes place on Earth Day 2011, April 22nd from 6pm to 9pm at the Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn, NY.

Attendees must rsvp to rsvp@textileartscenter.com.

Fashioning Self and the Environment: Artist and Designer Profiles Part 1

Anjelika Krishna of a.d.o clothing: A native of New Delhi, India, now based in New York, Anjelika founded ‘anjelika dreams organic’ or ‘a.d.o’ as a true expression of her commitment to sustainable practice as well as traditional Indian culture. Her collections incorporate carefully selected organic textiles and Ayur-vastra (Indian natural herb dye). Anjelika will share her extensive knowledge of ayurvedic dyes and natural plant materials.

Susan Benarcik: Known for her dramatic sculptures and environmental installation projects crafted out of recycled and nature-based materials, Susan will share her resourceful and innovative methods for creating organically inspired textile and surface designs.

Rachel Miller: As a sculptor, educator, and sustainable textile expert, Rachel bridges a variety of disciplines to tell a story that is rich in texture, pattern, and ecological awareness. Her work focuses on environmental patterns and how they interconnect with our own patterns of growth, departure, and ongoing rejuvenation. As an expression of ‘fashioning self and the environment’, Rachel will share videos from of her performance work as well as organic sculpture.

Shannon South of reMade USA: Designer Shannon South has created a chic design company that upcycles used materials to make one-of-a-kind bags and home accessories. Designing desirable objects out of discarded materials and diverting waste from landfills is reMade USA's vision. As a new resident at Brooklyn Navy Yard’s Pratt Design Center For Sustainable Innovation, reMade USA is a stellar example of why locally made is key to sustainability. Join Shannon as she shares sewing projects for leather recycling and DIY design.

Daria Dorosh of Fashion Lab in Process: An award-winning multimedia artist and researcher in field of art, fashion, and technology, Daria will share work created in the area of programmed knits with the assistance of John Kiehl and Jose Marinez. The team will demonstrate “why pattern is a rich language between fashion, science, and technology.” Knit samples from Stoll, NFC (near field communication) tagging technology, sonification of textiles, and algorithmic patterns for textile design will all be discussed.

'Fashioning Self and the Environment' takes place on Earth Day 2011, April 22nd from 6pm to 9pm at the Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn, NY.

Attendees must rsvp to rsvp@textileartscenter.com.

Teem Work and Shibori Dreamspace

As part of my recent re-introduction to NYC, I was finally able to soak up 'Teem: an installation' while visiting the Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn last Thursday for meetings and a Japan fundraiser event. Created by artists Mary Babcock and Christopher Curtin, Teem's site-specific dream space references bodies of water in a meditative and completely immersive manner.

"Suspended horizontal planes of lightweight, translucent silk are blown by rhythmically timed fans as audience members are beckoned to lie beneath this "screen" of textiles that mimic the constant flux of the ocean's surface. Six shibori hand-dyed silk "rivers" rotate in negative space above the billowing white silk surface below. These "rivers" interact with the ocean as the large silk surface is gently blown up into their paths. Each is affected by the gentle caress that takes place, and the result is mixing of the diaphanous silk and the ephemeral, fleeting movements of the river above."

- from the "Teem" proposal by Mary Babcock and Christopher Curtin

The timing was perfect for my visit as 1) I was still a bit jet-lagged, so the opportunity to stretch out on Teem's floor futons and gaze overhead at the waves of silk and the shibori-stained waterfalls in the front windows was completely restorative, and 2) I was able to donate to and at least catch the first part of a shibori-dye workshop that TAC was sponsoring as a fundraiser for Japan. The event raised $300 U.S. dollars for World Vision and participants were also able to learn more about an ancient dye process in conjunction with the opportunity to discuss recent events or simply the day that had unfolded. This is why TAC is such a valuable resource and paradigm for how to build community. Understanding textiles helps one to decode what connects us as well as differentiates us, as decisions are made about materials, techniques, and the intentions put forth in what one is crafting and envisioning.

You can learn more about TAC's workshops and events on their very informative website and blog.

Shibori workshop participants sharing and deep in dialogue

Shibori flowing beyond borders

all photos by Abigail Doan