Carrie Dickason
Screenshot taken during the last gathering on Thursday, July 29, 2021. Participants shared their creations with the group.
Open Curiosity: An Exploration of Material as Metaphor, a four part online workshop, invited participants to release their expectations about “Art-making” and embrace process-driven, open-ended inquiries. Participants used simple basketry techniques to consider relationships- both physically/structurally and metaphorically/philosophically. The sessions included discussion and interaction among workshop participants, with facilitation by New Mexico-based artist, Carrie Dickason.
The purpose of this virtual workshop was to spark creative exploration and experimentation, opening and expanding it into everyday life. The content included gentle guidance with prompts and support to consider inquiries such as: How can we use curiosity as a tool to stimulate growth and joy in our lives? What happens when we approach personal expression and interactions, with an open responsiveness? Can we use openness as an entry into helping ourselves and others to heal?
Participants were asked to commit to all four sessions as they will built upon one another, and because group participation and interaction was integral to the direction of the workshop and the unfolding of the content. Participants were encouraged to experiment and take risks. Fiber processes are generally slow, and this was an introduction, so the intention was that participants were compelled to continue their pursuits beyond the workshop and to share their projects as they developed.
The photos of artwork collected in this exhibition are in varying stages of completeness. Some pieces are considered finished while others were experiments and explorations into the processes. We celebrate all stages of work in this exhibition. After all, this workshop series is about the journey of curiosity, which is never truly complete.
Carrie Dickason
“Use all the unwanted things in your life as the means for awakening compassion for yourself and others”
The tactile actions of tying, binding and wrapping serve as structural and metaphoric means of connecting materials and conveying my desire for the care and mending of Nature and Society. Open Curiosity engages these simple actions as a conduit to interconnection through the process of coiled experiments, leading to forms/vessels/baskets. Attending to the materials is my way of processing and engaging with the material world—both physical and nonphysical, to investigate our embodiment and its relationship to touch.
In 1965 Anni Albers wrote about “tactile sensibility” and the degeneration of the tactile faculty coinciding with the increase of manufactured materials and the expanding distance between our handling of raw materials and making things with our hands:
“We touch things to assure ourselves of reality. We touch the objects of our love. We touch the things we form. Our tactile experiences are elemental. If we reduce their range, as we do when we reduce the necessity to form things ourselves, we grow lopsided. We are apt today to overcharge our grey matter with words and pictures, that is, with material already transposed into a certain key, preformulated material, and to fall short in providing for a stimulus that may touch off our creative impulse, such as unformed material, material ‘in the rough’.”
The limiting of tactile connectivity, “touch deprivation,” has been attributed to an increase of anxiety and depression. One of the numerous negative side-effects from the Covid-19 Pandemic has been the decrease of physical contact during an incredibly stressful time. Many of us live alone and were completely separated from loved ones, limiting our exposure to human touch. While on high alert against an invisible threat we physically distanced. At the same time, we were constantly washing our hands, but in the midst of our anxiety and fear, missed the tactile experience: of soap on hand, the touch of ourselves, the flow of water—engagement with the material. In my experience, the conscious process of engaging with materials and tactilely exploring their physical properties can alleviate stress while bringing joy to both the maker as well as to others who also engage with their makings.
The transition of Open Curiosity to a virtual event, evolved in relation to the isolation and dislocation of the 2020 Covid-19 global pandemic. For me the pandemic struck in the midst of a yet-to-be-resolved relocation, while temporarily isolating in an Airbnb, in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Eighteen months later, I’m still in New Mexico, on my own, while most of my studio and possessions—the materialities of my life—remain in storage in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Needless to say, this period of global pandemic, physical distancing, and political and institutional unrest has impacted my (studio-less) practice in a variety of ways.
Materials used: Clothing and accumulated textile materials
In this transitional space, I have continued my contemplations around societal relationships with materials: their origins; common uses; our beliefs and assumptions held about them; and what happens to them when they no longer serve our needs. This is part of the inspiration for using post-consumer materials in my work. These types of materials are always imbued with content, including the histories they extend beyond their immediate physicality. I’ve been using my own clothing and accumulated textile materials as the medium for experimentation in Open Curiosity, while learning more about the global impact of textile production/consumption on society and the environment. Through weaving materials and histories into new makings, I contact questions of society, environment, nature, and economics reinvigorating connections and renewing tactile relationships.
Anni Albers also emphasized the relevance of materials as a relationship in which the artist invites the materials to speak through direct physical interaction:
"How do we choose our specific materials, our means of communication? "Accidentally.” Something speaks to us, a sound, a touch, hardness or softness, it catches us and asks us to be formed. We are finding our language, and as we go along, we learn to obey their rules and their limits. We have to obey and adjust to those demands. Ideas flow from it to us and though we feel to be the creator we are involved in a dialogue with our medium. The more subtly we are tuned to our medium, the more inventive our actions will become. Not listening to it ends in failure. Students worry about choosing their way. I always tell them, “You can go anywhere from anywhere.”
What I am trying to get across is that material is a means of communication. That listening to it, not dominating it makes us truly active, that is: to be active, be passive.
The finer tuned we are to it, the closer we come to art”
(From statement on panel “The Art/Craft Connection: Grass Roots or Glass Houses” at the College Art Association’s 1982 annual meeting. New York, February 25, 1982. The panel was moderated by Rose, editor of Craft International and the panelists were Anni Albers, John Cage, Lee Hall, Robert Malloy, Philip Pavia, Jacqueline Rice and Peter Voulkos)
Over the past twenty years, tactility and personal experience have directed the trajectory and development of my work. Following an instinctual path, directly informed by the materials as they interact with and pass through my hands on a daily basis, I’ve shifted between intuitive affinities, experimentation, research and reflection. I consider my studio practice an organic, non-linear, cultivation of materials: it is a crucial way I engage with and contemplate my life and place in the world. In workshops, I aim to share these sensibilities and support others in trusting and cultivating their unique forms of expression.
After this long, reflective time, I am so fortunate to have the support of PlySpace and the Muncie Arts and Culture Council to explore these concepts and to connect with participants across New Mexico, Indiana, Florida, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Ontario. I thoroughly enjoyed our time together and appreciate the presence and engagement of each participant in the virtual experiment of being tactilely connected over distance!
This iteration of Open Curiosity will inform future workshops and projects that are under development. One of them is Pathways Through the Thicket, an exploration in creating mutual support and community, while sharing research and development revolving around creativity and sustainable systems of support. In October, I’ll join the community of Eastport, Maine, at StudioWorks Artist-in-Residence Program, at the Tides Institute and Museum of Art, to further research basketry structures and engage with the seaside community. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re interested in learning more, or for collaboration, commission, or hosting an event! For further information: www.carriedickason.com
Nicole Czapinski
Materials used: yellow rope found in the basement and pipe cleaners leftover from another body of work
“I had never made a basket before. As I was thinking through how to create the handles, I felt like I tapped into something instinctual and ancestral. Like my hands knew what to do. I'm 75% Polish so I started researching traditional Polish basketry. I found an organization in Poland called the Serfenta Association which works to keep basketry traditions alive and I'm so excited to explore this part of my heritage.” - Nicole Czapinski
See more of Nicole’s work on Instagram @zapkins
Liz Gorican
Materials used: Silk scarf and cord
“I am so glad I followed my curiosity and signed up! I loved learning this art form with everyone - the possibilities are endless and I look forward to creating all sorts in the months to come. My colourful little basket found a place on the nightstand.” - Liz Gorican
Ann Land
Materials used: rubber cord/jute, yarn, eco-printed fabric, and a junk mail catalog
“I made three very small baskets. For the first two, I used rubber cord/jute for the core, wrapped in yarn and an eco-printed fabric. My third basket was made using a junk mail catalog for the core (folding, tearing, twisting), and was wrapped in an eco-printed fabric.”
“Thank you PlySpace for bringing Carrie into my home! She is an excellent facilitator. She provided positive support throughout the workshop, along with a wealth of relevant information. I’m always excited to learn a new skill. The workshop opened my mind to using the mundane (junk mail, food packaging), in my work. I was also reminded how important it is to consider - where/when/how the materials I use originate - and how I end up with them. I enjoyed hearing the personal insights from the other workshop participants, and it was interesting to see the different materials chosen/used by each one. - Ann Land
See more of Ann’s work on Instagram @saraannland
Ellen Leigh
Materials used: Jute, plastic mailers, ziplock bags, McDonald's napkins, tights, camisoles, beaded dress, pajama pants, and other fabric scraps
“I was intrigued when I saw that there were going to be online workshops with Carrie Dickason and that it had to do with basketry and non-traditional materials. I signed up as soon as I saw the images of her work.”
“I loved the classes because it really expanded my thinking about what I could use to create form through basketry and I learned a new technique making a coil basket. The format of the class really gave a sense of community and the idea sharing was really helpful as it helped me to see how a variety of other materials could be used and different forms explored. I was working on a larger shallow bowl basket, so my form was very flat, but it was fun to see how other baskets were developed. I hope to take what I’ve learned and apply it in my own art making practice.” - Ellen Leigh
See more of Ellen’s work on Instagram @_ellenkathleigh_
Karen Fisher
Materials used: White paper, yarn and fabric strips
“I feel I have a clear path to finishing. I intend to scallop the remainder of the last row. This is a shallow bowl form about 8" across and maybe 2" deep.
I used big sheets of packing paper as the core (the white roll in the images. I had some problems keeping the paper in the roll, by the last core addition I tied yarn loose around the paper to keep the round shape. I used yarn and a couple types of material to wrap. The yarn was not the right scale for the core, but the material was. The material wanted to ravel. I used an embroidery hook instead of a needle, the material was too thick to go through the eye.”
“The ends left in the center have been woven in so they could be trimmed, I did think about attaching beads.
I really enjoyed trying non traditional materials, it helped me be a bit looser in creating.
I began the series with no expectations and no plan. That's way out of my comfort zone. It was liberating to create without a plan. Until this morning I still had no idea how I was going to finish.
This was a fun, interactive workshop that we participated in from our comfortable homes; it doesn't get much better!
Thank you Carrie for sharing and guiding and the other participants for sharing their ideas and stories.
Thanks PlySpace for facilitating.” - Karen Fisher
Barb Kuntz
Materials used: Siberian Iris leaves and plastic bags
“I have wondered if I could use Siberian Iris leaves as a material to wrap in basket weaving. After the discussion about curiosity and personal choice, I decided to lean into nature and use the leaves in opposition to man-made plastic bags as a core. I learned a lot about this. It was a great experience!” - Barb Kuntz
Araela Kumaraea
Materials used: Cotton cording, Webster dictionary pages, silk yarn, wool roving, metal beads, wire and plastic alphabet beads
“Inspirational and experiential opportunity working with materials I don’t typically work with - loved it! - Araela Kumaraea
See more of Araela’s work on Instagram @araelakumaraea
Susie Lambert
Materials used: colorful plastic bags, a scarf, pliable styrofoam, string, felt, and thread
“It took me on a journey I have not experienced in my “over 70” years on this earth. I discovered the artistic world is very fortunate in many ways. Your work is not only enjoyed while you are here, but your gifts are left behind to be appreciated as time passes. Very different from my life where, though I get to see the results, there isn’t the tangible evidence that you all get to leave….baskets, paintings, textiles, poems, books, stories, buildings, songs…. so many gifts. Thank you for providing me an opportunity to discover this most important lesson!
My materials I gathered prior to our first session were: colorful plastic bags, a scarf, some pieces of pliable styrofoam, types of string, pieces of felt, and thread.
And, though at first discouraged, I had a wonderful time exploring a new world and thinking about many things ‘in a new light’
I will not forget…….” - “Aunt” Susie Lambert
Sarah Shaffer
Materials used: fabric scraps, painted canvas, nylon tulle, plastic bags
“I created two vessels. One vessel is composed of painted canvas and fabric scraps, with the fabric scraps attached by the use of the blanket stitch technique.This form is a bit more traditional. While soft and flexible, it calls to mind the idea of a basket. The other vessel was created in a much more free-form and wonky sort of way.”
“The wonky form utilizes plastic bags taped and twisted together as the core. I experimented with nylon tulle, plastic bags and painted canvas and wrapped those materials around the core. I attached each layer creating negative space between some of the materials. These open spaces are as much a part of the form as the materials used to create it. I enjoyed playing with this space and using the free-form exploration of this not perfect, nest like shape.
I really enjoyed this online series! It was a great experience to hear from everyone and share with folks from so many different places!”
See more of Sarah’s work on Instagram @sarahshafferdesigns
