TextileSeekers x The Everywoman 2025 creative fellowship
Was chosen as the winner of the TextileSeekers x The Everywoman 2025 creative fellowship to be part of a recent TextileSeekers trip to Vietnam, where a group of creatives were immersed in traditional methods of weaving and dyeing out of materials like silk, hemp, indigo, and bamboo. Watching each step, cultivating mulberry, fermenting indigo, harvesting hemp, made me reflect more deeply on sourcing in my own studio and the full life cycle of the pieces I create.
Was already working with natural dyes before the trip, and had experimented with alternative weaves in my practice, but seeing the natural forms of its constituent elements in person expanded my vision: how papaya can be used to soften raw silk, or the care it takes to feed mulberry leaves to silkworms, or reel cocoons by hand. “Learning directly from communities that have preserved these crafts for generations felt essential.”
“Learning directly from communities that have preserved these crafts for generations felt essential.”
Each region had its own materials and techniques shaped directly by the environment and different tribes. Fibres, drying methods, and dye ingredients all depended on what the land provided. Even local architecture adapted to suit the climate and culture. It reinforced for me how closely craft is tied to place, and how important it is to work in harmony with nature.
I brought back raw hemp yarn and hand-spun silk, then knitted, knotted, twined, and coil-basketed them into contemporary tableware. My aim was to reimagine these materials into everyday objects with a modern aesthetic, while still honoring their origins and the hands that shaped them.
At Ms. Trang’s family farm, we fed silkworms mulberry leaves, reeled cocoons by hand, spun the yarn, and wove it into fabric. The experience underscored the importance of preserving and honoring traditional knowledge.
In my own practice, heritage and tradition often appear in subtle ways, through material choices or making processes.
