Studio Art Project 2: Weaving
"Silent Spring II", September 2024
19" x 29"
woven cotton fabric, ribbon, and paper
This piece is representative of hobbies and interests that I am passionate about: birds, native plants, and caring for the earth. The project used repurposed materials, except a purchased roll of ribbon: leftover fabric remnants from a sewing project, burlap, and rubber “grass” pieces were pulled from a neighbor’s Goodwill pile. These materials were woven together and sewn by hand and by machine to keep it all intact.
The birds woven into the piece were photocopies of drawings, cut into strips, that I drew with watercolor pencils; I intentionally used only pieces of the bird drawings to represent our loss of birds in the U.S. – we’ve lost more than 30% of our entire bird population in the past 50 years, largely due to habitat loss caused by our use of herbicides and pesticides and our landscaping choices – our penchant for expansive non-native grass lawns and non-native shrubs and flowers.
Strips of paper with printed logos of common pesticides and herbicides are woven into the piece to represent their role in the extermination of the bird population. America’s use of these products to keep non-native landscapes pristine and bug-free have created a food desert for birds.
I hope that this piece will make people think about their role in caring for the earth.
