Mending the future,
Botanical dyes, threads, sewing, embroideries, crude oil and periodic blood on linen fabric,
2m x 8m, 2019
Supported and produced during Ós Textile Residency - Icelandic Textile Center - Blönduós - Iceland
Inspired by the Icelandic landscapes and by the conception of ecofeminism, the piece represents a paradox. On a patchwork of vivid colours representing a naïve and schematic landscape, a strange liquid made of blood and crude oil is leaking from a giant embroidered black vulva.
In this work, the vulva is a depiction of femininity, but also a symbol to personify nature and the beauty of the landscape itself. This female genitalia is centered in the middle of this ribbon of fabric, like a third eye watching us. Furthermore, each piece of the patchwork has been naturally dyed with a different botanical pigment and ingredients to achieve different kinds of colours and shades.
Nature is feminine.
However, the piece also shows us a different side of the story. Symbolizing the destruction of the natural world, oil and blood is dripping from the vulva, staining and damaging the landscape on the fabric.
Feminism and ecology are two very similar concepts. Both nature and women are endangered by patriarchal and male-centered society, and both of them have to fight for a worldview that respects organic and feminine processes.
Mending the future is a piece embodying the current situation, but which aims to deliver a message of awareness for the future.