A recent journey to Peru took me to immerse myself in the rich array of cultures that have preceded and survived the Spanish colonial influence in this country.

Specifically, my focus was on learning about traditional Peruvian weaving through a hands on + theoretical approach: by learning the backstrap loom weaving technique from scratch, and learning about the iconography of andean textiles as information panels, transmitting complex information about social memories, such as cosmology, astronomy, religion, myths and history. In Andean culture, textiles, as well as all elements of the Universe, are ALIVE. There is no distinction between animated and in-animated, so textiles themselves are living beings connected to the broader web of relationships that each creature has with the rest of the Cosmos. I came back from this adventure with the understanding that I could only scratch the surface of this astonishingly complex and rich art, and the culture it intertwines so harmoniously with.

After Peru, I spent 2 months at CU Boulder working on an interactive art project using thermochromic ink and conductive yarn to explore the possiblities of dynamic pattern creation on a soft textile display, controlled by an Arduino. My work has been exhibited at the conference “INTERSECTIONS Collaborations in Textile Design Research”held in London on September 13, 2017.