textiles

Stumbling upon NY Fashion Week by accident

September 12, 2011

Stumbling upon NY Fashion Week by accident

I was there by accident. These people were not.

Apparently it’s “anything goes” in fashion right now, but that’s been true for a while. Anyway, it’s never really “anything goes” – there are always those weird, arbitrarily-imposed rules.

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Berber rugs from the Beni Ouarain region

June 27, 2011

Berber rugs from the Beni Ouarain region

The impulse in Berber rug-making to both interrupt and also loosely maintain a pattern seems unique in traditional textiles. If not unique, then it’s hard to name a tradition that equals Berber mastery of this particular tension.

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WE Vancouver: 12 Manifestos for the City

April 6, 2011

WE Vancouver: 12 Manifestos for the City

 

This is a belated short note to say I am participating in the Vancouver Art Gallery’s current exhibition WE Vancouver—12 Manifestos for the City, running February 12–May 1, 2011.

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In the nomad style

October 26, 2010

In the nomad style

Every few years this romance of ethnic plus nomad comes back around. For a previous example, see 2008. This year it seems to have returned as the usual Siberian/Mongolian nomad style, but hybridized with a specific pastiche of ethnic costumes and craft embellishments.

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High school student hybridizes her own indigo woad

October 6, 2010

High school student hybridizes her own indigo woad

British Columbia student Sarah Dalziel, who regularly wins medals in Canadian science fairs, is working on hybridizing the woad plant for maximum yield in harsh climates. Woad, which as you probably know was used by Boadicea to paint herself blue in early Celtic times, is an important source of indigo dye.

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