Yellow quilt

Katherine Heisler

website@moadoph.gov.au — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 05:44:01 +0000

Katherine Heisler website@moadop… Mon, 10/15/2018 - 16:44

I’m a contemporary fibre and embroidery artist.

Katherine Heisler

English

United States of America

American

Hand-embroidery teaches patience, craftsmanship, tradition and simplicity.

Sourcing aged textiles, every piece begins with its own story that transforms with each prick of the needle. Embroidery is a transitive, meditative process which forces you to slow down and truly be present. Not only with the fibres but with yourself. It’s all about textures, textiles and feelings—I guess it’s really all about touching, feeling, communicating and mending.

UDHR Article

Article 1

Quilt

Yellow quilt

Heather Berry

website@moadoph.gov.au — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 05:44:26 +0000

Heather Berry website@moadop… Mon, 10/15/2018 - 16:44

Heather Berry is a book-loving, cross-stitching, true-crime fanatic from Chorley in the north-west of England. She is a library assistant by day (a job she truly loves!) and an assistant Scout leader, and enjoys all forms of creative pursuits. Her favourite activities are museum visits, exploring Northumberland in England and being auntie to the best niece and nephew anyone could ask for: the latter have definitely shaped a need for social change.

Heather is confident in her political and social beliefs, gently advocating for mental health and feminist reforms. While she may not be shouting from the rooftops and protesting in traditional ways, she is embodying the art of gentle persuasion, challenging beliefs on these subjects wherever she can. She hopes that she can continue creating art and embroidery to help both these subjects. This is her first craftivist project but she hopes to participate in many more.

Heather Berry

English

United Kingdom

English

Being from England’s north-west, I feel a close association to the UK suffragette movement, as a number of key suffragettes were based here. While in prison, these women participated in an early form of craftivism. Their handkerchief signatures were a statement of solidarity, using what was seen as a feminine pastime to fight for what they believed in.

The signatures on my piece replicate those on a handkerchief, dated 1912 and held at Holloway Prison, to which I added my own signature. Using the same techniques as these prisoners made me feel incredibly close to the subject, and truly appreciate the time and effort that each woman gave, often during hunger strikes.

I utilised the traditional suffragette colours, also as a sign of solidarity with others facing discrimination. Purple represents loyalty and dignity; white, purity; and green, hope. The UDHR Article is stitched on translucent paper to evoke the clouded nature of a society that hides true equality.

UDHR Article

Article 2

Quilt

Yellow quilt

BirdTribe Wearable Art

website@moadoph.gov.au — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 05:44:51 +0000

BirdTribe Wearable Art website@moadop… Mon, 10/15/2018 - 16:44

Nina Blackcockatoo is a textile artist, environmentalist, activist, ethnobotanist, horticulturalist and lover of the natural world. She is currently creating natural-fibre clothing and wearable art dyed with plant dyes. Her artwork is about our connection to the environment, and encourages this reconnection within ourselves to see ourselves as part of nature.

BirdTribe Wearable Art

English

Australia

Italian, Irish

Article 3 is a right many people are not experiencing here in Australia, in the prison camps in Papua New Guinea, and in many places all over the world. I hope the Australian government releases the refugees from their ‘offshore processing facilities’ very soon and they are shown compassion and helped to start a new life in Australia.

I also hope the government will value, acknowledge and respect the rights of our Indigenous people and enter into a Treaty, as they have requested, to move our country forward into a fairer place.

I dyed the fabric using Australian native plants to acknowledge the Aboriginal people of Australia. I stitched the words using hand-spun silk thread, hand-dyed with dyes such as indigo and cochineal, commonly used by Indigenous peoples in other places in the world. We need to show respect, compassion and empathy to our fellow sisters and brothers to make the world a better place for all.

UDHR Article

Article 3

Quilt

Yellow quilt

Willemien de Villiers

website@moadoph.gov.au — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 05:45:21 +0000

Willemien de Villiers website@moadop… Mon, 10/15/2018 - 16:45

I am a South African artist and writer, living and working in Muizenberg, Cape Town.

I was born during the very repressed era of Apartheid. Growing up in a completely segregated and separated community rooted in me a longing for connection and integration; something I continue to seek for in my art-making.

With hindsight, I now realise that the secret, unseen world of all living matter—first glimpsed under the microscope in my 10th-grade biology class—provided an alternative narrative to the one I was living: on a microscopic level, everything is connected.

I am still drawn to that which lies below the surface; hidden, obscured. I find the secret, pulsating world of plants especially inspiring; their relentless drive to procreate and thrive—or sometimes merely survive—is so similar to ours.

Sewing by hand demands patience and time. It is a form of meditation. A devotional act. It creates an emotional space to connect with memories, dreams, the day’s news, a friend’s tragedy. My current themes explore the issues of intimate partner violence, gender identity, misogyny and patriarchy.
While stitching, I feel connected to all the individuals, I assume mostly women, who have worked on the cloth before me. I like to imagine their circumstances and stories. Whether they were willing workers/embroiderers, or whether they were resentful and working from a sense of duty. The act of stitching can be a violent one—needles are very sharp—and indeed, blood sometimes flows. Whenever I accidentally prick myself, I always let the drops seep into the cloth I’m busy with, adding one more stain to the collective memory it carries.

Willemien de Villiers

Afrikaans

South Africa

South African, of Dutch and German descent

Note: Willemien accidentally sewed Article 1, not Article 4. In such a complex international project, such things are bound to happen. We’re only human!

As an introverted artist, you won’t find me on the streets, protesting the ills of the world. Craftivism suits my personality and talents, which is why I leapt at the chance to contribute to this powerful project.

The themes in my work have always centred on feminist issues; challenging and highlighting the skewed power dynamics of patriarchy by using craft techniques seen as stereotypically female. I stitch my stories by hand on found, stained and torn domestic textiles. My inspiration comes from police reports of domestic abuse, to stories told by friends and strangers. I also strive to celebrate the intrinsic goodness and compassion all human beings share, and to start a conversation about how we can move closer together.

The most vulnerable people in South African society are women and girls. Our entrenched patriarchal system means many women are still seen as property. Our national rape statistics are incredibly high, and despite having one of the world’s most enlightened constitution, many South Africans’ human rights are not protected.

UDHR Article

Article 4

Quilt

Yellow quilt

Maria Holmerin Nord

website@moadoph.gov.au — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 05:45:47 +0000

Maria Holmerin Nord website@moadop… Mon, 10/15/2018 - 16:45

I have always been a writing person, both in my personal and working life, being a communications manager. Around the age of 45, I suddenly felt my hands itching to touch and work with something solid and tangible. A week-long workshop with traditional Swedish woollen embroidery sent me zooming down the textile rabbit hole. Today I am doing needlework, wet-felting, crocheting, printing, dyeing and making shibori on a semi-professional level, preferably crafting abstract, textile sculptures.

Maria Holmerin Nord

Swedish

Sweden

Swedish

Sweden takes pride in being free and modern. But there are cracks in our shining armour. Right-wing forces are on the move. Following the wave of Syrian and African immigrants in 2015, our Parliament passed a temporary law limiting the rights of asylum seekers.

The concept of torture is far from the average Swedish citizen. If your right of asylum is denied though, it is not unlikely the Swedish state will show another face. Your home might get raided, you might be detained for an unspecified time, and you might leave Sweden in shackles and a spitting hood. Involuntary sedation has also been used.

I wanted to bring this discrepancy into my quilt, hence my choice of a tablecloth; a simple object telling of frequent coffee parties. But the red colour has a connotation of blood. That other part of Sweden is not discussed at the coffee table, but I would like to put it there, together with the sugar bowl.

UDHR Article

Article 5

Quilt

Yellow quilt

Tatyana Plummer

website@moadoph.gov.au — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 05:46:14 +0000

Tatyana Plummer website@moadop… Mon, 10/15/2018 - 16:46

Tatyana Plummer is a 21-year-old, non-binary, first-generation immigrant. Their mother came to the United States after the Soviet Union dissolved to create a better future for them and their family. They are currently pursuing Bachelor’s degrees in sustainability and urban planning. Their interest in pursuing these fields comes from their passion for cultivating sustainable, dense urban areas that give people the ability to create strong community ties. A sense of community is important for them because of their personal experience with a lack of representation of the LGBTQI+ community in popular culture.

Tatyana Plummer

Russian, English

United States of America

American, Russian

The reason I am part of this project is because of the emotional connection I have, as a citizen of both Russia and the United States and as a Queer person.

I want to bring attention to the fact that Ramzan Kadyrov’s administration in Chechnya said, ‘You cannot detain and persecute people who simply do not exist in the Republic’, in reference to the allegations of torture and concentration-style camps for gay men in the Republic of Chechnya. At the same time, in the United States, the 2020 Census and American Community Survey will exclude many LGBTQI+ people.

As someone who has a connection to both of these places, I want to show the relevance of Article 6 in both cases, and how exclusion from the census, or the cultural ideals of a country that doesn’t believe LGBTQI+ people exist, can eventually lead to conditions like those in Chechnya.

UDHR Article

Article 6

Quilt

Yellow quilt

Liv Martin

website@moadoph.gov.au — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 05:46:37 +0000

Liv Martin website@moadop… Mon, 10/15/2018 - 16:46

Liv Martin greatly enjoys making and crafting for its value as a means of expression, and as a strange way to soothe and reset herself. Embroidery has become a favourite vehicle to achieve these valuable states of being and, as such, she pursues it fiercely.

Having in the remote past picked up a needle to do lots of cross-stitching, she has recently developed an intense interest in the vast world of embroidery techniques, and she hopes to better explore and learn them in order to add those types of skills to her precarious artistic toolkit.

She was rather pleased to add further meaning to her craft by participating in the craftivist #UDHRquilt Project, and she looks forward to contributing to other projects if the occasion arises.

Liv Martin

Spanish

United States of America

Venezuelan

Venezuela is under the siege of a so-called revolutionary government that uses misery and hunger to perpetuate their power.

At the time I embroidered this piece, there were daily protests all over Venezuela by people fed up with excuses and lies. The government responded using deadly force. Over a hundred people died. In many cases, members of Venezuela’s National Guard were the perpetrators. None of them have been jailed or tried for a crime. Seeking justice in Venezuela’s judicial system is as futile as trying to bring the victims back to life. Now most people are too busy trying to survive to think of protesting.

Word about the crisis is spreading and many government abuses are being referred to as crimes against humanity. With my piece, I only hope to help spread awareness. Know that every stitch represents the many that remain suffering, unheard, and desperate—and the many others who were silenced forever.

UDHR Article

Article 7

Quilt

Yellow quilt

Libbertine

website@moadoph.gov.au — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 05:47:02 +0000

Libbertine website@moadop… Mon, 10/15/2018 - 16:47

Maker of things that question, it is all about extremes with me. I am bound to question structures of all kinds. This is manifest in a number of ways, mostly in a passion for the freedom of sewing-machine sketching and embroidery, but I am also fascinated by geometric metal structures. The hard and the soft path is the one I tread (I am also either dieting or overeating). I have just finished my second year of a Contemporary Design Crafts BA at Hereford College of Arts.

As a teenager I decided to reject modern society. I had never felt included and so the natural step forward was to separate myself from it, and to become what is now called a New Age traveller. What I was seeking was a greater connection with nature and my environment, and a less materialistic approach to life. I lived sustainably and worked hard for the little I had. It was not a lawless existence but nonetheless I was persecuted and hounded by both the general public and law enforcement. It was a small glimpse into the world that many experience to a much higher degree.

Around me today I see the dehumanisation of people who are struggling, people who need our help, in many cases because of the crisis in their own lands created in some part by the leaders of ours. It scares me to see that humans do not know how to learn from the mistakes of the past and it saddens me that we are likely to see this suffering magnified in the coming years. I have spent a considerable amount of time fostering the skills of others and helping people to develop their moral fibre, within an educational setting and the creative realm and with my own children.

At last I decided that it was also important to foster the same within myself. Tired of holding my tongue about inequality within the workplace, home and wider world, I began to use my love of craft to give a voice to others who perhaps don’t have it. I use thread to explore the narratives of others; I find reward in expressing other people’s voices, hearing them and drawing the threads of their tales into breakable threads of soft canvas. The process of free-motion sewing allows me a simple approach to quickly express these tales.

Sharing this experience with fellow fibre artists across the globe is incredible. Seeing the blocks come in and being posted up on social media made me feel a unity and connection with others I had not encountered. Seeing the depth of skill and context was truly humbling and inspiring, and to have my work woven into a whole gave me a great sense of pride and achievement.

Libbertine

English

England, United Kingdom

English

After Grenfell Tower burnt down, I was outraged to discover that six months earlier, the Grenfell Tower Action Group had posted about their fears a fire would result in serious loss of life. Everyone was too busy or uncaring to look at their concerns. When I watched the tower burn I could see their souls escaping in the smoke; I was very affected and I knew I needed to represent this terrible injustice. The cladding was cheap and put there to make the tower look better as it was in the eyeline of some very expensive properties. The gas lines ran down the stairwell, the only escape route. These lives were deemed less consequential than others.

I cannot wait to see the finished quilts. This international project represents a chapter in history. It should be recognised as a work of protest and unity, and as an indication that the will and the compassion to address our problems does exist.

UDHR Article

Article 8

Quilt

Yellow quilt

Cat Evans

website@moadoph.gov.au — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 05:47:26 +0000

Cat Evans website@moadop… Mon, 10/15/2018 - 16:47

Cat Evans grew up in Canberra and has recently returned there from living in Melbourne to study art. She is frustrated with the current Australian Government’s lack of empathy towards people who need our help. The #UDHRquilt Project is her first craftivist project and she hopes to be involved in many more.

Cat Evans

English

Australia

Australian

When I was assigned Article 9, I immediately thought of the green tents used by the Australian Government to house detained refugees on Manus Island, and of the terrible ways the people living in those camps have been treated. I chose to do my block in a reclaimed olive-green fabric to represent those tents.

Participating in this project, I was reminded that while we can be quick to call out human rights breaches in other countries, our government is conducting its own. I hope that when people view these quilts they will be reminded that, as a developed, wealthy nation, we have responsibilities to citizens of other countries.

UDHR Article

Article 9

Quilt

Yellow quilt

Kristen Franyutti

website@moadoph.gov.au — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 05:47:52 +0000

Kristen Franyutti website@moadop… Mon, 10/15/2018 - 16:47

Kristen Franyutti is an American artist working in mixed media and fibre arts. She has won various awards including the 2017 John and Susan Berding Family Endowment Master of Fine Arts Prize, the Varg-Sullivan Graduate Award in Arts and Letters, Special College Research Abroad Money (SCRAM) to travel to Tokyo, Graduate School Dissertation Completion Fellowship Award, and three Research/Professional Development Fellowship Awards to travel to London, Paris and Quebec.

Her work is in the Michigan State University (MSU) Library’s permanent collection. Furthermore, she has exhibited in various international and national shows and galleries, including the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, (SCENE) Metrospace, and Kresge Art Center (MSU), East Lansing; A.I.R Gallery, New York; Main and Station Gallery, Montreal; In-situ Installation Residency at Moon Rain Centre for Textile Arts, Quebec; the Kelso Art Center, San Antonio; and the Ford Gallery at Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti.

Kristen received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fashion Design from the University of North Texas, and received her Master of Fine Arts from MSU, graduating summa cum laude. Prior to working as a full-time artist, Kristen worked as a technical designer for a large fashion house in New York and she also worked for several years as an assistant professor at MSU. Kristen currently lives and works in south-eastern Michigan.

Kristen Franyutti

English

United States of America

After reading this Article, I thought of Lady Justice. She wears a symbolic blindfold, while carrying a set of scales in one hand and a sword in the other.

I depicted the scales to represent the idea that all humans should be judged as equals. Our race, colour, ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation or religion should never tip the balance of the judicial scale. And despite our individual differences, we are all made of the same basic cell structures. To portray this, I embroidered the image of human skin cells and the rhythm of the human heart, as one would see on a heartbeat monitor.

Earth is home to all, and we should never be prisoners to one location. I stitched abstracted lines to depict geological mapping of coastlines. Even if we find ourselves in a new foreign location, we have the right to be judged fairly. More importantly, we must treat others the same way.

UDHR Article

Article 10

Quilt

Yellow quilt