Seeking Shelter
Each stitch is a marker of time, place and experience.
Seeking Shelter
Seeking Shelter is a contemporary exploration of the traditional Ngarrindjeri mats of Australia. I first encountered these mats while working on large-scale fiber sculptures for WOMADelaide in Adelaide, South Australia. The mats mesmerized me with the simplicity of structure, materials and use. Traditionally the Ngarrindjeri mats are created by gathering sedge grasses and coiling them into an eight-foot diameter mat. Folded and stitched partially they were used to carry children, scoop fish, and hold sacred objects. Enclosed completely they were used to wrap the dead. This basket structure is symbolic of the sacred fertile state out of which things come.
By recreating this style of mat with materials ranging from seagrass, bamboo, and rawhide I will explore the potential forms available by simply folding an oval mat, contorting it’s shape and stitching sections of the woven cloth.
Eventually residing on a material and creating a series of large-scale folded pouches/wombs I will install these in the landscape with the hopes of photographing and journaling their habitation by wildlife and their deterioration by the elements.