Labor is central to the discipline of craft and is a framework for the examination of western consumerism. In the context of capitalism and industry, critiques about labor and centralized production have culturally devolved into the output of traditional craft and other artisan activities. Craft making and community oriented enterprises such as collectives, guilds and worker owned businesses have historically grown out of the desire and necessity for socio- economic reform, as seen in The Arts & Crafts Movement of the 19^th c, and in contemporary trends such as the DIY culture and Craftivism. Within this context, handcrafting can be viewed as promoting a material culture that revolves around egalitarian, community-based modes of production.

Remnants From The Men’s White Shirt Industry

This work examines consumer culture and the dominant paradigm of labor exploitation that is inherent to industrial, capitalist modes of production. Read More

Mae Colburn who writes for the online publication,  Fashion Projects, published an interview on their blog. Read here: Fashion Projects

Fashion Projects began in New York in 2004, with the aim to create a platform to highlight the importance of fashion — especially “experimental” fashion — within current critical discourses. Through interviews with a range of artists, designers, writers and curators, as well as through other planned projects and exhibits, we hope to foster a dialogue between theory and practice across disciplines.

I have been working with Mickey O’Neill from The Hudson Valley Sheep & Wool Co. to develop rugs on their felting machines. The fiber we are using is from Shetland and Icelandic sheep who live on their farm.

http://www.hudsonvalleysheepandwoolco.com/

The carding machine creates the wool batting in preparation for felting

Some wool batting laid out on the felting machine