Making the Global Local Through Embroidered Art Practice

Sarah Pedlow

My talk will explore my art practice over the last year, influenced by my traditional embroidery research in Eastern Europe and experience as an American expat living in Amsterdam. I embroider textiles referencing curtains and clothing and make works on paper that combine imagery of Amsterdam architecture and interiors with stitched and drawn elements from floral prints and clothing. My work creates a conversation between interior decoration and personal embellishment; the city as a patchwork citing global influences from the 17th century through the present; ideas of folk and rural against an urban backdrop; window-dressing and dressing the body. My practice is a means of mapping my surroundings, connecting to the past, traveling metaphorically, and rooting in the present. 

The Color of a Weed

Lisa Jevbratt and Helén Svensson

For the last several years we have been exploring the nature, history and cultural perceptions of “invasive species.” We are using non-native plants on Santa Cruz Island (off the southwestern coast of California) to dye yarn and wool from “Santa Cruz Island Sheep”, a breed endemic to, but now removed from, the island. Santa Cruz Island is undergoing an intensive ecological restoration process. Our project aims to complicate questions regarding who and what belongs on that island, and in extension on any “island”, real or imagined. It seeks to participate in discussions about the movement of plants and microorganisms, immigrants and colonizers across our globe. The project, Invasive Species/Endemic Breeds, is scheduled to be exhibited in the winter of 2022 at a The California Islands Museum in Carpinteria currently under construction. Since COVID 19 made it impossible for us to work on Santa Cruz Island, we moved our textile-based plant ecology investigations to our gardens and parks close to home. We will briefly present the project and our dye investigations, with images of the process, wool, yarn, and the weavings we produced.