Finding the Weaving Lanugage for the Prototype

Originally, I had envisioned using the same material for the warp and weft - in the pre-Covid vision for the project that was more ephemeral and literal. As I adapted my vision for the structures, and as I began building ideas at full scale it was easier to envision how potential materials would work. Instead of soft, flowy parachute material, my mind shifted to polypropylene rope for the warp and old sails for the weft - using the rag-rug technique that is prevalent in Scandinavia generally and specifically in the Finnish culture I grew-up in. The prototype structure allowed me test materials as well as my technique and connection points to the structure.

Processing the old, torn sail for the UNWEAVING project: cutting along stitch lines, following the order of the sewing, dismantling the structure of the fabric designed to be strong enough to withstand wind speeds of 23 knots ... in order to create strips to weave the tapestries that are at the heart of the project. The visual characteristics of the elements I'm extracting hold technical thought, reason, and strategy for travel on water. Just as I am giving this physical material a new use/purpose, I am also infusing it with new meaning and symbolism, telling the story of a different kind of travel ... that which we forge within ourselves as we journey through change.