2021 Grad Show

Abbi Buckley

Fibre

www.abbibuckley.com/

In my practice, I explore the complex interconnections between myself and the life cycles around me by forming conversations through the materials, my body and my surrounding landscape. My sculptural garments questions themes of symbiosis in relation to the current geological epoch of the Anthropocene, in turn suggesting the prosperity of living in a world of reciprocity with the earth. Working with textiles and foraged organic matter, I am interested in engaging with the materials through the act of listening and establishing a symbiotic unity in translation to their altered form. Somewhere in-between, recovering my identity and place within the natural world through the narrative being told.

Vibrating 2021. Acrylic yarn and eco-dyed wool yarn (chaga, black knot, alder cones, alder catkins, golden rod, marigold, beets, lac). Inlay, woven. 23" x 104 "

Consolidating 2021. Acrylic Yarn and Eco-Dyed Wool yarn (lac, chaga, golden rod, marigold, elder cones, catkins, black knot), Field Grasses, Old Man’s Beard Lichen, Cedar Bows, Phragmites. Inlay, woven. 24’’ x 220''

2021 Video Performance. Cotton bedsheets eco-dyed (chaga, lac, madder, golden rod, marigolds, raspberries, beets, black knot, cedar) and quilted. Eastern white cedar foldable tent structure. 48’’ x 60’’ x 60’’ An exploration of adolescence and an investigation of place in response to circulating global issues.

A Special Place

Attuned 2021 Video Performance. Old Man's Beard (Usnea) garment, woven.

Emerge 2021 Video Performance. Cocoon, leaves.

Let Go 2021 Video Performance. Phragmites tube, woven.

Souvenirs 2021 Video Performance. Quilted reversible jacket, eco-dyed( black knot, goldenrod, marigolds, cabbage). Accessorized with burs and whoever else tagged along for the ride.

In Translation

In Translation is a series which embodies an act of returning to the landscape. The series expresses the experience associated with wearing organic matter and how it creates a genuinely raw and present moment with the body, mind and the earth. Creating this series is a desire to immerse myself with the physical, spiritual and ethereal properties of the living world. Inserting my body into the landscape disrupts the boundary and blurs the lines between various species and my associations with them. Forging a symbiotic unity.

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Learning to Listen; Golden Rod Overalls 2020. Osnaburg cotton overalls dyed with golden rod and painted with iron. Carved diamond willow buttons.

AUArts Grad Show Screen Shot 2021-05-20 at 2.37.13 PM

Learning to Listen; Cedar Jacket 2020. Cedar boughs printed using cyanotype on osnaburg cotton.

Learning to Listen; Chaga Sweater 2020. Merino wool, dyed with chaga, golden rod, raspberries and saskatoon berries, woven.

Learning to Listen

Learning to Listen (2020) is a series of three garments that embody and celebrate the landscape that raised me in North Western Ontario. This series is enriched with memories of my childhood and the relationships shaped with all beings involved. I've discovered the vitality of being present, receptive and observant as I gather and the importance of maintaining patience and mindfulness of the resources I've utilized. I've learned the value in listening, for listening leads to curiosity and curiosity leads to discovery. Building a bond with the plant life involved guided me to create clothing made with intention, care and love. While wearing them, I am reminded of how I am and always will be rooted to the land I grew up on.