May 2021

Response to the Archive: The Warp and Weft Of It All by Karen Faris

Karen Faris
The Warp and Weft Of It All (pin loom on wood, yarn, fabric strips, 18″ x 19″)
Responding to the Warp & Weft Archive
Instagram: @karenfaris_art_and_photography

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I was moved by all the stories and by the rawness of people’s experiences along with their willingness to share. I couldn’t single out just one so, in the spirit of Mara’s work and her vision for this project, I wove them all together into this piece to create a tapestry of people, places, languages and realities because we are all many stories. Listening to each other, having compassion for the way the world treats our brothers and sisters, strangers and friends, is the only way we can come together to make the changes so desperately needed.

Weaving introduces the way stories appear and disappear depending on a myriad factors, such as racism, patriarchy, gender, geography, history, capitalism, life experience – so many things that the pandemic has forced out into the light. Which words and stories would appear or disappear I left to chance so that the tapestry reverberates on its surface making unexpected connections and severing potential ones. I wish I could have included everyone’s voices but I was limited by the scale of this model.