Fashion(ing) Artifacts 

I have been collecting, modifying, and preserving cloth and related textile materials for several decades now. Some aspects of this process have been intuitive, and others simply resourceful.

I refer to these objects and finds as artifacts, as they embody cultural and historical threads, often of a personal investigative nature. 

This featured collection references fashion concepts and various expressions of making, but not always with a specific end goal in mind. I prefer to study what each object is communicating and then decide what is required. In some instances, the making process encourages me to step back and let the artifact be. Observing and preserving becomes a form of fashioning.

At a time when there is so much emphasis on generating new ideas and promoting the need for more, choosing to “fashion” in a way that slows the process and considers other ways of relating to materials is something of real, introspective value.  One’s custom-tailored investigations and personal library might themselves be a kind of collection. This creative process unfolds over time, weaving in changes, shifts, and critical contemporary events. 

– curatorial notes, Abigail Doan‍ ‍

[ collection images forthcoming ]