SOL + #parejasededeshecho | WIP

Work In Progress
developmental stages of SOL and #parejasdedeshecho project.
Forthcoming (2018) exhibition at Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico

meditation space, material development, video, and online archive-journal

Made possible thanks in part to the Beca Lexus para Artistas. Bestowed by Lexus in collaboration with Fundación Comunitaria de PR.

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SOL is a large-scale meditation space/fiber-sculpture hand-woven entirely out of a self-created material, my #handspunrecycledfabricyarn. Created using movements inspired by the traditional technique of Puertorrican Sol lace.

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#handspunrecycledfabricyarn is a material development and textile recycling project. I collect textile waste/scraps from my #parejasdedeshecho (textile manufacturers, seamstresses, designers, and artists in my own community). Then, I sort, join and twist with a very simple (non-electrical) tool these pieces of ‘trash’ creating a continuous fiber, full of texture and potential. Giving these materials a new life cycle.

With this yarn, I create pieces that become a symbol of transformation, community effort, and awareness. I see this project, and my work in general, as a hands-on manifesto of the symbiotic relationship we can have with our environment, what we do, use, and consume.

For several years now I’ve gathered (and transformed) scraps in New York and Puerto Rico, Barcelona. Besides having the opportunity of disposing of their waste in an ethical and responsible way, the donors or #parejasdedeshecho become collaborators whose stories are being collected HERE. This journal serves as a record of the beautiful links between materials, people, and places that we are creating.