Foraged Fiber Art
Begin with a place—neighborhood, park, garden—learn its plants—forage for leaves, vines, stems, fibers—weave/collage a basket—let manual labor imprint itself on the body—write from the experience—a poem of the interaction of body, nature, and place.
Place-based poetry baskets, handmade with materials foraged from within a single city block in Little Tokyo.
Place-based poetry basket I – Jacaranda, iris leaf cordage, wisteria
Place-based poetry basket II – Bamboo, jacaranda, wisteria
Place-based poetry basket II – Close-up of detail
Iris leaf cordage
-
![Yucca fibers]()
Yucca fibers
Foraged from yucca trees in my Los Angeles neighborhood. I harvested the long green leaves, then boiled, scraped, and dried the fibers.
-
![Yucca fiber basket dyed with black walnut]()
Dyed yucca basket
An experimental basket made from yucca foraged in my neighborhood, and some society garlic stems at the base. Some of the yucca fibers are dyed with local black walnut.
-
![Milkweed cordage]()
Milkweed cordage
Cordage is another word for rope. This cordage is hand-twisted from milkweed fibers foraged from a local park. Since milkweed plays a critical role in the life cycle of monarch butterflies, only dead milkweed was harvested.
-
![Handwoven milkweed and yucca yarn fabric]()
Handwoven milkweed and yucca
Locally foraged yucca and milkweed fibers twisted into cordage, then woven on a diy cardboard loom.
-
![Basket woven from jasmine vine, palm influorescence, flatsedge]()
Foraged condo basket
A basket woven from materials foraged entirely from my condo complex. I was interested in whether I could make something from the decorative plants often planted in corporate parks or apartment complexes. Jasmine vine, palm influorescence, flatsedge.
-
![Close up of text written on foraged basket]()
Closeup of foraged basket
Poem written on foraged basket. Jasmine vine, palm influorescence, flatsedge.
