November

"It's the spectator who judges and who decides, to the point where every relationship between forest, sun, lake, animal and sky goes via him and is establish for his sole good. It scarcely matters, moreover, whether what’s been stuck in front of him is an old master, an industrial development project, a battle plan, a view of the sky, a theatre scene or the map of a realm some prince hopes to control.” Bruno Latour (2023). After Lockdown: metamorphosis.

Photo of mini tapestry (15 x 9 cm) with dry flowers, plant leafs and fibers. by Monica Pinheiro CC BY-NC-SA (CC) October 8, 2024.

September

"Because it is always tempting to over emphasize autonomy and independence, these helpless creatures are here to remind us that no one is, in the end, 'self-made'; we are all heavily in someone's debt. We realize that life depends - quite literally - on the capacity for love. (...) All this she will later forget and they will be unable or unwilling to convey to her." Alain de Botton (2017). The Course of Love. Photo by Monica Pinheiro CC BY-NC-SA (CC). September 6, 2024.

June

"There is a connection between the brain and the hand that supports an embodied cognition, a knowing. Handicrafts in particular, which require dexterity and patience and a respect for the material, help make connections for us." Susan Magsamen & Ivy Ross (2023). Your Brain on Art: how the arts transform us.

Photo of mini tapestry (10 x 15 cm) by Monica Pinheiro CC BY-NC-SA (CC) June 30, 2024.

June

"(...) from wholeness as a living plant to fragment strands and back to wholeness again as a" tapestry. "The dual powers of destruction and creation that shape the world. Strands once separated are rewoven into a new hole." Grief can "be comforted by creation, by rebuilding the homeland that was taken. The fragments, like ash splints, can be rewoven into a new whole." Robin Wall Kimerer (2020). Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants.

Photo of tapestry (76 x 82 cm) by Monica Pinheiro CC BY-NC-SA (CC) June 20, 2024.

June

"To let threads be articulate again and find a form for themselves to no other end than their own orchestration, not to be sat on, walked on, only to be looked at…" Anni Albers (1959). Pictorial Weaving. Wishlist book. Latest tapestry on the making detail photo by Monica Pinheiro CC BY-NC-SA (CC) April, 2024.

creation at the core of art-I-fact

The beginning of a new tapestry starts long before I lay out the threads on the frame. Each tapestry starts as a synapse that survived in my brain. With time it weaves together with other synapses, creating a visual memory that grows and evolves, reinforcing some features and letting go others. This visual memory mixes with previous experiences, narratives of people, new and old books, and life’s events at the gestating stage. Then, the image of possibilities for the next work meets with the material affordances of all the resources collected. Materiality that will give substance to daydream explorations, until the dialogue between mind, hands, vision, and materials becomes irresistible and the fragrances fill the room with the materialization of a new art-I-fact. From stillness to flow. Hatched from a resilient synapse that joined with others. Creation at the core. Flourishing by coming into being. 

Photo of tapestry (83  x 78 cm) by Monica Pinheiro CC BY-NC-SA (CC) 2024.

February

"What if we could fashion a restoration plan that grew from understanding multiple meanings of land? Land as sustainer. Land as identity. Land as grocery store and pharmacy. Land as connection to our ancestors. Land as moral obligation. Land as sacred. Land as self. (..) Land as home." Robin Wall Kimerer (2020). Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants. 

Weaving roots to a better world. Photo of tapestry (86 x 78 cm) by Monica Pinheiro CC BY-NC-SA (CC) 2024.

February

“Imperfect they may be, but I believe they are a beginning of a reweaving of the bond between people and the land. (…) I can take the buried stone from my heart and plant it here, restoring land, restoring culture, restoring myself.” Robin Wall Kimerer (2020). Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants. Photo by Monica Pinheiro CC BY-NC-SA (CC) 2024.

Less machines

While reading about the «Workshop in Rotterdam: How to Build a Bike Generator», discovered the larger solution scenarios for human powered societies, that tackle much more then climate crises and fossil consumption. They present integrated solutions to increase biodiversity, reduce city concentration, production near place of consumption, better health, sustainable farming, better soils and food, more wellbeing. All of that with less machines and more human power, as envisioned in the Human Power Plant. Photo by Monica Pinheiro CC BY-NC-SA (CC).

Setembro

"Feeling the touch, discovering the colour, memorizing the smell. Weaving quietly different textures and tensions. Creating peace to guide action. Liberating the mind to shape possibilities." June 2021, What can we do with what we already have?...

Photos by Monica Pinheiro CC BY-NC-SA (CC)

July

"Particular attention should be paid to the material used, for good craftsmanship is built on natural foundations, and nature assures the material's quality. (...) When a certain locality is rich in a certain raw material, that material gives rise to a certain craftware. It is this resources, the gift of nature, that are the veritable mother of craftwork." Soetsu Yanagi (2018). The Beauty of Everyday Things.  

Photos by Monica Pinheiro, free to use if you respect the license CC BY-NC-SA (CC).

June

"Women have been the weavers of tales and tapestries. For centuries, they have unspooled their stories as they spun or threw the shuttle on their loom. They were the first to capture de universe as warp and weft. They knotted together their joys, hopes, sorrows, fears, and most private beliefs. (...) They interlaced verbs, yarn, adjectives, and silk. This is why text and textile share so many words (...)." Irene Vallejo (2022). Papyrus: the invention of books in the ancient world. 

Photo of tapestry (78 x 96 cm) by Monica Pinheiro, free to use if you respect the license CC BY-NC-SA (CC).

October

"Weaving is a transformative process with many functions. It involves clearing thought, and organizing personal energy and emotion. A handwoven work resists becoming mere product, or mere art." Sofi Thanhauser (2022). Worn: A People's History of Clothing. 

Photo of tapestry (78 x 110 cm) by Monica Pinheiro free to use if you respect the license CC BY-NC-SA ( CC ).

Foodscapes

"The scale of the problem is so vast, complex and interconnected that inertia has plagued the issue. But, a foodscape-scale approach to planning and action can help drive swift progress that benefits both people and the planet." "(...) [W]idespread consensus that business as usual against a backdrop of accelerating climate change and biodiversity loss is not an option." (bold is mine) in The Nature Conservancy (2022). Regenerative Foodscapes: Accelerating A Global Food System Transition. Photo by Monica Pinheiro free to use if you respect the license CC BY-NC-SA ( CC ).

The last layer

"Whereas labour involves care and sustenance, work is the domain of creation and creativity. It calls on craft and skill and vision. It is about the dreaming of dreams and the making of things." Tim Jackson (2021). Post Growth: Life After Capitalism. Tapestry (July 2022). 

Photo of tapestry (80 x 102 cm) by Monica Pinheiro free to use if you respect the license CC BY-NC-SA ( CC ).

June

"Craft makes us human, and in doing so, it can provide deep satisfactions that are hard to replicate in other (dare I say) less hands-on activities." Cal Newport (2020). Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World. Photo by Monica Pinheiro (PT20220621). License CC BY-NC-SA ( CC ).

June

"What you are basically, deep, deep down, far, far in, is simply the fabric and structure of existence itself." Dreams by Nuage. Tapestry and photo by Monica Pinheiro (PT20220615). License CC BY-NC-SA ( CC ).

June

"From the point of view of the network, mycelium is a single interconnected entity. From the point of view of a hyphal tip, mycelium is a multitude." Merlin Sheldrake (2021). Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures. Photo by Monica Pinheiro (PT202200615). License CC BY-NC-SA ( CC ).

March

 

"The cunning of uncertainty suspends routine. (…) It prepares one for surprises that come with increasing order of complexity in which non-linear dynamics reign." It "sends one back to consider context, the framing that holds but also constraints." Helga Nowotony (2016). The Cunning of Uncertainty. 

Photo os tapestry (78 x 98 cm) by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA ( CC ).

February

"The combination between biometric data and mass surveillance results in an unlawful practice that unfairly treats everyone like a suspect." More about biometric data in Reclaim your Face. Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA ( CC ).