Desire

This piece is a link in the chain of my Stratigraphy Project, constructed of handwoven fabric dyed with myriad natural dyes. 

A Textural delight to adorn your wall and invite a caress.

This piece is the final creation of my Stratigraphy Project. The dyes used in this piece are : Canadian chartreuse lichen, artists conk, clavariadelphus truncatus, hydnellum suaveolens, sarcodon imbricatum, mint, yellow coral, Indian paintbrush, echinodontium, chokecherries, avocado, skins and pits, alder, ramaria largentii, onion skins, elderberry, phaeolus schweinitzii, black walnut leaves, alder, fermented black walnut leaves, mint from Montana, bee balm, rock tripe, knapweed, coneflower, artist conk, Tansey, fire, weed, goldenrod, echinodontium and goldenrod, Sage and pecan shucks.

It was handwoven on both a warp and weft of naturally dyed merino wool and was then mounted onto a pine wood frame with antique fasteners.  It measures 10.5 inches wide x 16 inches tall + 18 inches of fringe growing from the bottom.

Stratigraphy is a deep dive into my physical and ancestral connections to this land. The project began in the summer of 2021 on a slow journey north through the Rocky Mountains to Montana, and back to New Mexico. During this summer we traveled in our 1978 Chinook/2001 tacoma mashup with a camper full of art supplies, dye-pots and Merino wool yarn ready to be dyed. As we traveled I harvested plants and fungi and began my dye exploration and documentation. I found that I was unable to dye as quickly as I could harvest (especially due to the fleeting temporal nature of mushrooms) and so I began to dry many of the dyestuff that I collected to dye with upon my return to New Mexico. In total I dyed with 139 different plants, fungi and one bug (cochineal) to bring Stratigraphy to life.