Carolyn Sutton

'Witches in word, not deed'  by Carolyn Sutton is displayed at Dunfermline Carnegie Library & Galleries  until 17th Nov.

"Carolyn Sutton’s higher degrees in library science and archival administration, heritage and exhibition design, and studio art/ photography inform her work as an artist and interpretation designer. Witches in Word, Not Deed stems from her interest in matters of social justice, difficult heritage, and folklore. She has been researching the witchcraft trials for many years, but it wasn’t until the culmination of all these things that the exhibition could come together in a way that felt right to her. It is an imperative asking us to remember the lives of the victims with dignity and compassion. It cautions us against the further exploitation of this history.

 

Witches in Word, Not Deed remembers 13 women wrongly accused and persecuted for witchcraft in Scotland under the Witchcraft Act of 1563. Through personalised and historically accurate dresses imprinted with the words that condemned them, the exhibition brings attention to the power of words and the loss of identity and life in which the witchcraft trials resulted. The exhibition is a heartfelt memorial to the roughly 4000 people accused of witchcraft in Scotland, nearly 85% of them women."

Raija Jokinen

 

Finnish textile artist Raija Jokinen uses flax and hand and machine embroidery to create fascinating pieces based on the human body, visualising our connection and part in the natural world.

Human Touch Clothing

 

Human Touch was  founded in 2023 by Juliet Seger, a tailor, clothing engineer and sustainability designer, and Christina Albrecht, from theoretical foundations, conceived of in 2020 during Juliet’s masters degree in Design for Change at Edinburgh Collage of Art. 

What started as a conceptual project has evolved into a brand, launching at Berlin Fashion Week in February this year. The brand aims to show the disconnect between the omnipresence of clothes and the production processes that are fundamentally powered by human labour. 

"Our design process is a very practical one. HUMAN TOUCH garments follow a normal sewing process with the difference that three to four times per minute the machinist dips her fingers in paint, therein directly printing the fingerprints from the manufacturing process onto the fabric. Areas of a garment that require more handling appear more densely painted. Overall the resulting pattern is quite dynamic, a combination of vague strokes and actual distinguishable fingerprints. To counterbalance the “messy” print design we choose silhouettes that are clearly legible: collared shirts, denim jeans, clean cut coats – items with clearly defined and recognizable tailoring details. Afterwards we heat the garment to fix the textile paint to the fibres making them wearable and washable." Human Touch

Lildenimjean

De-constructed, reconstructed repaired denim by Japanese company Lindenimjean who use sashiko techniques to make incredible garments. 

 

All that remains . . .

 

Left in a field and decomposed for about a 20 year period, this is a pair of Wrangler jeans is now down to its toxic skeleton of leaving behind only synthetic fibers and the metal hardware. It is facinating to see what the world cannot digest and it is plastic! Found near Sacramento by @darnvintage about 6 years ago at an estate sale and now part of the Wrangler Archives. (thanks)

Mary Shelby

 

Mary Shelby’s fascination with buttons began after seeing her mother’s button box. As her own collection grew, along with an interest in quiltmaking and design, Shelby imagined a quilt made entirely of buttons. Using 11,923 flat buttons attached to what was likely a white tablecloth with a lace trim, she adapted a Friendship Quilt pattern published in the Kansas City Star in 1938.

Cassie Arnold

Cassie Arnold's exploration of femininity through her knitted mum bra series.