Foraged Fiber Art

Begin with a place—neighborhood, park, garden—learn its plants—forage for leaves, vines, stems, fibers—weave/collage a basket—let manual labor imprint itself on the body—write from the experience—a poem of the interaction of body, nature, and place.

Place-based poetry baskets, handmade with materials foraged from within a single city block in Little Tokyo.

Place-based poetry baskets, handmade with materials foraged from within a single city block in Little Tokyo.

Place-based poetry basket I – Jacaranda, iris leaf cordage, wisteria

Place-based poetry basket I – Jacaranda, iris leaf cordage, wisteria

Place-based poetry basket II – Bamboo, jacaranda, wisteria

Place-based poetry basket II – Bamboo, jacaranda, wisteria

Place-based poetry basket II – Close-up of detail

Place-based poetry basket II – Close-up of detail

Iris leaf cordage

Iris leaf cordage

  • Yucca fibers

    Yucca fibers

    Foraged from yucca trees in my Los Angeles neighborhood. I harvested the long green leaves, then boiled, scraped, and dried the fibers.

  • Yucca fiber basket dyed with black walnut

    Dyed yucca basket

    An experimental basket made from yucca foraged in my neighborhood, and some society garlic stems at the base. Some of the yucca fibers are dyed with local black walnut.

  • Milkweed cordage

    Milkweed cordage

    Cordage is another word for rope. This cordage is hand-twisted from milkweed fibers foraged from a local park. Since milkweed plays a critical role in the life cycle of monarch butterflies, only dead milkweed was harvested.

  • Handwoven milkweed and yucca yarn fabric

    Handwoven milkweed and yucca

    Locally foraged yucca and milkweed fibers twisted into cordage, then woven on a diy cardboard loom.

  • Basket woven from jasmine vine, palm influorescence, flatsedge

    Foraged condo basket

    A basket woven from materials foraged entirely from my condo complex. I was interested in whether I could make something from the decorative plants often planted in corporate parks or apartment complexes. Jasmine vine, palm influorescence, flatsedge.

  • Close up of text written on foraged basket

    Closeup of foraged basket

    Poem written on foraged basket. Jasmine vine, palm influorescence, flatsedge.