Some Things Held Together

2024

silk, dye (kelp and rust), bamboo leaves, chicken wire, glue​

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Some Things Held Together draws on the accumulation of debris in gutters. It examines how we try to control the movement of water in urban spaces, how the water eludes our attempts when it falls heavy and pools into the streets, and how we must then negotiate new ways of moving through the city. In moments when our everyday structures falter, we seek informal ways to sustain ourselves and our communities, engaging in alternative modes of labour, and asking the materials around us to labour in new ways. 

 

The materials in this sculpture include foods from the artist’s home, objects found in transitional spaces in their neighbourhood, and otherwise unneeded items that accumulate in their places of work and their studio. The silk fabric was shibori dyed in an “arashi” pattern resembling the diagonal lines of raindrops in a storm.

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Image Description

Three photos of a rectangular artwork on a white wall. It is 36 inches wide and 56 inches tall. Strips of silk fabric are woven into a length of chicken wire, following the diagonal pattern of the wire and tilting gently to the right. The silk is wrinkled, frayed at the edges, and puffs out of the wire, creating a scalloped surface resembling waves, leaves, or fish scales. It is dyed into a modulating tan colour with sections of faint striping and colour pooling. There are three large dashes across the surface of the artwork, each formed by a grouping of bamboo leaves woven into the wire on top of the silk fabric. Across the bottom edge, the tapered fabric and bamboo ends dangle loosely.