Dagmar Pouwelse

Threads are visible, invisible, they mend, they structure, connect and reconnect. As a textile based artist, this is where my practice begins. My sustainability focussed process is being led by second hand fabrics and rest materials: they make me challenge myself to explore the possibilities of what fabrics still can become – together or as one. I see this limitation not as a restriction, but as an opportunity to create new usage in transformation.

Pieces of leftover fabric mostly remain unused. Other than discarding them, I use these snippets as a starting point by researching their artistic values and possibilities, and by doing so, I make the craft and playfulness of sewing visible. As part of this process, techniques like embroidery, photo transfer, drawing and text can be used to complement the heart of the work and underline their newly found value.

The disinterest in the ephemeral state of existence in material by many of my peers, is something that saddens me. Rethinking what this loss means is the main drive behind my work, which embraces fragility and calls upon reappreciation and reconnection with what already is.

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