Interwoven Lineage
The woven sculptures and video work that comprise Interwoven Lineage began while processing the inner bark of a basswood tree into fibers for weaving seven years ago. While wading in a creek and separating the bark into long sheets of fiber, I was struck with an uncanny feeling of familiarity—it simply felt so right even though it was the first time I had engaged with basswood in this incredibly sensory process.
By reflecting on my personal experiences and exploring the plant materials and basketry techniques used in my own ancestry, I came to investigate the idea that relationships between plants and people can be inherited through our DNA in both literal and mysterious ways.
From sculptures which integrated plant and human body parts, to fiber script that plays with light and shadow, this collection of work is an exploration of both the weaving techniques of my personal ancestry and a greater story of the links between culturally important plant species and human beings. At the heart of Interwoven Lineage is a drive to ask myself and others to examine and deepen their relationship with the plants and the land we live with.
The numbered list corresponds to the images from left to right, row by row
Listen Closely (Names of Basswood); basswood fiber (Tilia americana); 42” x 60” x 12”
Detail of Listen Closely (Names of Basswood)
Older Rhythms; ceramics, birch bark, white oak splints; 12” x 13” x 3”
Holding; hand sculpture with plaited rushes; 15” x15” 6”
Object of Power III: Rush Apron; rushes (Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani); 48: x 46”
Breath; ceramics, rushes; 14” x 13” x 2”
Spiral Path; ceramics, rushes, basswood fiber; 10 ½” x 10” x 5”
Birch Heart, birch bark, 8” x 9” x 3
Fear Not Death (Learning from the Willow); live willow cuttings, willow rods, soil, stones, water, light; 8’ x 6’ x 14”
Installation view of Interwoven Lineage
Marrow; ceramics, skeined willow; 7 ½” x 1” x ¾”
Object of Power III: Lineage Shawl; basswood fiber, white ink writing; 24” x 7” x 36”
Rushes Speaking; rushes (Schoenoplectus lacustris); 50” x 12” x 26”
Children; willow, basswood fiber script; 23” x 16” x 18”