“The first cultural device was probably a recipient .... Many theorizers feel that the earliest cultural inventions must have been a container to hold gathered products and some kind of sling or net carrier” - Ursula K Le Guin, The Carrier Bag Theory Of Fiction

Throughout these breezy summer months past, my weaving kin, sisters Leeay and Akash came together to share, experiment and explore the concept of weaving while spending time in the lush, green parks of T’karonto. Building works collaboratively by using foraged, found objects sourced from our own spaces became the beginning of Woven. By rekindling communal practices and passing one seed, thread or reed into the hands of different lives, experiences and generations, we learn, share, let go and grow...one weave and stitch at a time.The intuition and urgency of experimentation are the primary foundations that draw our works together. The water bucket slowly emptying itself, bundled fallen pine needles, and North American prairie grass wilting away are materials that are time based, speaking towards our intuitive nature of foraging and finding materials to create sculptural beings. Our collaboration is familial, as Akash, Leeay and I feel as close as sisters as we world this exhibition together. From one to another, we’ve developed a kinship by passing knowledge through our own ancestral backgrounds and exchanging skills as we make.

Leeay stitching our blood line with red thread,

Akash felting fibers into fuzzy skin-like forms

Me plaiting a maple reed mat

Woven, in my perspective, means to intertwine and to narrate. Using materials that are foraged, found, pre-made, has given us an opportunity to combine elements we each brought in and collaboratively create a narrative that commemorates our lived experiences. Utilizing elements of soil, water, plants, pre-manufactured materials and found objects questions what our position on this land is. What is our story?

These questions may not have definitive answers, but we instead seek to nurture an open-ended conversation. In this exhibition we are using techniques that are indigenous to our cultures by using materials sourced around us creating a trans-cultural experience. My sisters and I are settlers in T’karonto, therefore it is important to think about how we interpret our identities to acknowledge this geography. For example, as a collective, we wanted to use materials and techniques that are easily accessible to our own resources and space. Using our hands to paint with mud, making baskets, foraging and felting are all additive techniques derived from ancient practices we personally resonate with. Basketry, especially for me, sits heavily in my lineage from many generations in the past. My paternal side of the family originates from Shouning, Fujian Province. This village/town has a vast history of basket weaving from utility to celebrations. Weaving symbolizes a sense of recultivation and survival, as my father is unable to weave. The action of me and my sisters weaving conveys strength and resilience to push forward sustaining inter-generational knowledge. Even the communal interactions of us sharing the same studio space, having meals together, talking, sharing, laughing are portraying a similar ambiance to a community in a village and reflected in these woven works. The skill of basketry and many other woven techniques are craft practices that are slowly diminishing in the hands of our contemporary world through mass industrialization and globalization. Woven - Objects, Materials and Space(s) Beyond Measure hopes to challenge this and explore the revival of familial techniques through sisterhood and togetherness.

- Kristi Chen

FULL ESSAY