Show Notes
Today on the podcast, LaChaun and I are talking about issues of racism and White Supremacy, and the ways they are deeply embedded into our textile industries and communities. This country and the world and all of us are reacting to the murder of George Floyd and so many other Black people at the hands of the police. White folks are being called upon to deeply examine and work at rooting out the racism in ourselves and our families and communities and it is work I am committed to staying focused on in my personal life and in this business. LaChaun and I have had a few phone conversations recently about how we want to bring these conversations onto the podcast and into our weaving community, and we decided on our last one that we should record one of these conversations to share transparently with our listeners what we have been thinking about. I am deeply appreciative of LaChaun's interest in and willingness to talk about this so openly on this platform.
If you are new to our podcast, I encourage you to listen to two earlier episodes where LaChaun shares her story and journey as an artist and a farmer, and a number of her other episodes where she explores the history and present realities of farming and processing cotton and indigo in the United States - you can see all episodes of the podcast at www.gistyarn.com/podcast.
www.gistyarn.com/episode-109
More from Weave
In this week's episode, LaChaun speaks with Jamila Norman a.k.a (Farmer J), Lauren Soleil, and Keisha Cameron of the Black Sheep Fiber Circle, a maker-style sista' circle and fiber arts gathering dedicated to BIPOC land stewards and agrarian artists who love to create, enjoy, and explore the legacy of African and Indigenous-American textiles.
In this week's episode, LaChaun speaks with Aliana Grace Bailey, an interdisciplinary fiber artist, designer, and care worker whose practice combines art, healing, and social impact. Through her ongoing project Soft Gather, Aliana crafts immersive healing environments that invite Black women and gender-expansive communities to rest, reflect, and connect through the language of color and fiber.
In this week's episode, LaChaun speaks with adé Oh (they/themme/àjé) an afro surrealist, animist, and multimedia healing artist. Their creative fire is nourished by earth-based textile crafts, sound arts, experimental and abstract visual arts, nature writing, poetry, capoeira Angola, good food and healing herbs, river time, belly laughter, money, healthy relationships, and peaceful rest. They are a returning generation slow craft artisan and in 2014, made a lifelong commitment to cloth and tapestry weaving. In 2020, they founded dièdiè textile farm and production studio which is currently incubating on collective land Tierra Negra farms. They work with land and sky to grow and process plant-based fibers and dyes for the people. At Gist, we are lucky to support them as one of our artists in residence of 2022 and as a guest on the podcast this week.
In this week's episode, LaChaun speaks with Sobia Ahmad, an interdisciplinary artist whose work explores how our deeply intimate struggles of belonging can inform larger conversations about migration, the tenuous notions of home, personal memory, and cultural porosity. While exploring her ancestral knowledge, Sobia reimagines craft rituals and intergenerational storytelling as acts of liberation.
In this week's episode, LaChaun speaks with one of our artists in residence Kesiena Onosigho. Kesiena's thought-provoking mixed-media collages and installations are informed by her lived experiences, curiosity, and the historic influence on arts & crafts from people within the African Diaspora.