Weaving myself into relationship.
Weaving has been an ongoing thread in my creative practice. Working with a variety of fibres, reclaimed materials, seedpods and other found objects of beauty, I explore the slow process of making, embodying texture, rhythm and relationship with the materials. Taught by the vivacious and hilarious Tiwi elders when living in their community, I pay homage to this lineage and give thanks to their generosity in sharing something that has accompanied me ever since.
The act of weaving mirrors the ecological patterns that inspire much of my work: interconnection, tension, repair, repetition, pattern.
Woven Together
Repurposed wool sourced from op shops and raffia
For Woven Together, Marisa Taylor, founder of Mycelium Parents, hosted a series of workshops, teaching the ancient art of weaving to parents as they shared heartfelt stories and tended to little children. The parents each made small spiral weavings, some individually, some were picked up and worked on by multiple mamas. Marisa then wove these little pieces together to form the large piece, symbolizing how we come together with our different backgrounds finding ways to mingle, connect and form new shared histories. Woven Together is thus a statement on relearning lost crafts and finding moments of connection in the disjointed modern world to heal the deep losses felt from the fallout of years of parenting from the nuclear model. Together, we imagine, envision and weave together the threads of a new shared culture based on care, compassion and deeply valuing our roles in this season of nurturing little people. Woven Together will continue to grow as more people join the village and contribute their unique weave.
Mycelium Parents is a group of families seeking to recreate the feeling of being surrounded by a whole village. We are working to repair the support structures for families that have slowly been eroded by social isolation and hyper individualism. We seek a world where mothers are supported to thrive whilst staying connected with their babies. Belonging provides the base for the next generation to confidently project themselves out into the world and work together to solve intractable problems. Our children are our future, and we need support to raise them with the love, care and presence that they need to thrive.
