Spin Club Tapestry

My project "Spin Club Tapestry" explores cultural memory by embroidering photographs, inspired by the tradition of spin clubs in Northern Germany. I grew up in a small farming village in Northern Germany. A village that is bound to its history and that stands out through its traditions even today. Long ago, village women met regularly in "Spinneklumps" (Spin Clubs) to spin wool, embroider, and stitch fabrics for their homes. I imagine their conversations as they worked, the beautiful stories that lifted their spirits, as well as the stories of sadness, sorrow and loss. In modern times, village women continued to meet in this tradition, but shared stories over coffee and cake instead of needlework. These close-knit groups of women often stayed together until their death. In this exploration of memory, my composite images take the form of tapestries, combining images of embroidered Spin Club fabrics with new and old photographs from the village. I connect the present and the past by re-creating and re-imagining pieces of the embroidery. The patterns I have stitched myself into the paper are only abstractions of the original Spin Club designs and represent fragments of memory. The tapestry of my life belongs to me but is stitched through with the beauty and heartache of past generations. All images are Archival Pigment Prints with Unique Embroidery. Edition of 3 with 3 AP's.