In my studio practice, I am influenced by the craft expressions of the diverse cultures represented in the extraordinarily multicultural community of San Francisco. While developing skills in textiles at California College of the Arts: weaving, woodworking, knotting, spinning and other sculptural textile approaches, I studied textiles traditions of the world. I learned how powerful yet accessible traditional craft textiles can be for personal and cultural expression.
My creative practice symbolically weaves local, diverse communities together by Culturitizing fallen branches from windstorms in San Francisco. When natural limbs fall on city sidewalks they become abject: tossed in compost or the chipper. I gather and Culturitize them, for example: giving them new life with gold leaf to bling, with textiles to clothe, and paint to embellish, just as peoples all over the world have traditionally crafted their ideas and identities. I allegorically and ironically want to give voice and care to the cast offs in my neighborhood.
The decked out sticks are woven into local trees with upcycled yarn, used rope and other found material. My Culturitizing craft works are influenced by guerrilla yarn bombing, immigrants collecting discarded cans, and faux finishes masking plastic made-in-China accessories.
My goal for this Culturitize craft is to have a public, guerrilla installation on almost every block in North Beach, in strategically unexpected, not instantly noticeable places. These installations will not only be made by myself, they will be created by many of my neighbors, whom visit my studio, Make Hang, looking for a creative project.
Photography by Jazzwall
