Cumulative Losses I and II
2024
1140mm x 1740mm
reclaimed textiles (cotton workcoats, nurse’s uniform, Arena cardigan, Regeneracija floor covering, souvenir tablecloth, carpet shavings), thread and metal leaf
As part of ‘We are collecting today for tomorrow’, an exhibition in two cities curated by CIMO and developed following my Briefing on Soft Arts residency in 2023, my collaboration with ReGalerija and its sister company ReGeneracija explored the potential of dust. Denounced as ‘enemy’ by the foreman at Regeneracija where it veils machinery and bales of textile trimmings, at Regalerija, it constitutes the minimal waste from wool dyed in-house for custom-made tapestries.
For the collaboration, ReGalerija tufted my composition for an artwork using only the surplus wool from previous projects and I used papermaking processes to incorporate dust shorn from the same with Regeneracija’s recycled floorcovering – a composite material made from the offcuts of European garment production and secondhand clothing. Both artworks visually reference the shuttles and punched cards of textile production. The design of the rug varies loop and cut pile to interperate the textures of weaving and enlarged details of Regeneracija’s floorcovering. The flecks of lamé and sequins that pepper this product, inspired the use of variegated metal leaf on my signature reconstituted ‘cloth’ patchwork, coined by CIMO as ‘mosaic wall paintings’.