Future Statment

For almost ten years I have been working with plastic bags using the heat of a flat iron and a soldering iron. I developed my own techniques to shape them in a way as to often make them almost unrecognizable. Now, in search of a new ways for me to work with this modern, ubiquitous and controversial material and to keep it more apparent in the final pieces, I have turned to ancient textile techniques. Twining, looping and interlacing are the basic motions of all textile techniques and they can be found universally in the archeological record all over the world.[1] Sitting down and using our hands to work fibers from our immediate natural environment, gathering and creating and slowly building up skills over generations - these actions are deeply human. Hunters and gatherers have lived, skillfully, off their immediate environment for thousands of years, crafting what they need from materials at hand. The materials at hand though, have changed. The environment irreparably altered. From now on into the future, I hope we can become Foragers again, learning once more to use what is close at hand at this point of radical changes, where technological advancements alone are not enough to guide us. A re-adjustment of our world view and value systems is desperately needed, including re- learning old skills, re-evaluating materials, caring instead of exploiting. From flimsy plastic bread bags to small, carefully and patiently made 'Bread Baskets', I rework waste with techniques embedded in human history. In a world in the midst of difficult transitions, I want to encourage people to perceive a waste material from a different viewpoint. To see possibilities and beauty in change and to find resilience and enjoyment in making do with what we can find close at hand, sometimes discarded under our feet. [1] Schoeser, Mary - World Textiles, chapter 1, Thames & Hudson 2022