Hello, it's me again, back to spin you more tales about fiber arts (as they're calling them these days). Admittedly, I am a little tangled up right now in the contemplation of knitting as art, knitwear as art, wearables as art. I use the term "fiber art" very specifically - it's different from fashion design or textile art in that fiber art very specifically uses yarn and methods such as knitting, crocheting, macrame and felting - things that are often referenced as "craft". The term "fiber art" has only just come back to the fore in the last few years, with the snooty people that talk about high art finally thinking about how this very hands-oriented, tactile skill can also be art. Honestly, it's a moot point for me - art is what you make of it. and the fiber arts are here to claim space and stay.
Last time I wrote about Yrurari's fantastical knitted creations. While writing that Thing, I remembered the work of Oklahoma knitter and artist Kendall Ross, aka. @id.knit.that. Ross's work is one-of-a-kind hand-knit wearables, often made with yarn she's dyed herself. It's in a totally different genre (so to speak), from Yrurari - Ross makes down to earth sweaters, vests, and dresses crammed with iconography and messages worded from her thoughts, anxieties and insecurities - some of which are all too relatable.
There's definitely also something to be said here about fast fashion knitwear and crochet - imagine the hours and hours of work it takes to create textile by hand from a single strand of yarn and then shape that textile into something you can wear. Now imagine seeing something just like it at a fast fashion shop, priced the same as a meal at a mid-range restaurant or a fancy cup of coffee.Â
I don't know -Â I feel a great amount of affinity for Ross's work. There are many things some of us think about while we knit or crochet. Ross has the balls to put all of it into what she's making.Â