What is mining and how is it affecting our lives in Australia? Seems an awkward thing for a weaver to be thinking about, so I’m weaving a series of textiles about ‘mining’.
We are very near to some of the mining which has overtuned our beautiful valleys into denuded landscapes, taking what lies below the ground by digging open cut on the surface. It’s brutal, painful to see. There is a alot of history and political entanglements which have brought this, or similar, to us repeatedly in some form. It’s about how the land is seen, often as only an opportunity for financial investment and how we view ourselves in the mix. Hopefully some good will come from it and these things can be passed to our future communities. I am frightened that it won’t be the case.
Interestingly, my first scarf off the loom is lovely. It’s soft and very light weighing only 70g. Woven and ‘painted’ in silk, hand dyed silk, wool and stainless steel/wool. Perhaps the steel came from an Australian mine. It’s part of the warp or ‘land’ structure with entines of wool, and even cloth fully formed. It’s full of hope and beauty.
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