EPISODE 63 :: Zak Foster

The Close Knit podcast aims to hold space for conversation about the ways we use fiber to process life and world events

In Episode 63 of the Close Knit Podcast, I spoke to Zak Foster. Raised in rural North Carolina and now living in Brooklyn, New York, Zak is a self-taught textile artist whose work draws on Southern textile traditions while incorporating found fabrics and natural dyes. He practices an approach to design that is intuitive and improvisational and he is drawn to preserving the stories of quilts and specializes in memory quilts. His work has been featured in various magazines, websites, and galleries. 

Zak and I start off by talking about his most current work, and how he has been developing his relationship to sharing his art practice through social media. He tells me about two concepts in his work that felt particularly tender to me, especially in light of the pandemic, his memory quilts and burial quilts.

Zak has such a special way of approaching his work, primarily working with reclaimed materials - clothing he finds on the street in his neighborhood, fabrics he’s been given in his travels. He explains that he came to working with reclaimed materials first out of interest, and then from a desire to continue to pursue his joy while lessening his impact on the planet.

In addition to being a quilter with a full-time practice, Zak has been a teacher for the last 18 years. We finish up our conversation with his excitement about moving toward a future where he is no longer teaching, and we talk about how he’s managed both careers over the years.

I have long admired Zak’s work, and I’ve been so taken with all the work he’s shared, especially lately, and it was such a treat to sit down in conversation with him. Zak is such a brilliant storyteller, and I so admire his resolve around his practice - I hope you enjoy listening to this conversation as much as I loved having it!

Find Zak: Website | Instagram

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Until next time! 

xx

ani

EPISODE 62 :: Vivian Shao Chen

The Close Knit podcast aims to hold space for conversation about the ways we use fiber to process life and world events

In Episode 62 of the Close Knit Podcast, I spoke to Vivian Shao Chen. Vivian is a potter, sewist, and knitter, and architect by profession. The order of that list changes frequently. 

She has been pursuing pottery for almost four years. She learned sewing from her parents when she was a child through their clothing manufacturing business. She picked sewing back up as an adult in the last 20 months or so, and now she has transitioned to drafting almost all her own garments. She taught herself to knit about two years ago as a way to keep her hands busy when she’s too tired to be in the studio. 

She recounts memories of her childhood in the factory her parents managed in Montreal after immigrating from Taiwan - a unique look at the manufacturing process that gave her an early understanding of garment construction. Vivian only picked garment sewing up more recently as an adult, and we talk about the ways she approaches her garment-making - from a place of form, function, and technical skill. She tells me how all of her many creative pursuits have some mix of this triad of things.

We talk about how she came to knitting as a way to occupy her hands on her commutes from Philadelphia to her job in NYC at the time, and how she came to understand knitted garment-making, and how she made it her own. Vivian is a person who enjoys the technical and problem-solving elements of her creative process, a quality that has lent itself to many pattern alterations, and overall a responsiveness to garment-construction process.

Much like in her pottery practice, Vivian’s aesthetic has come about as a result of making work - her forms organic, her materials natural, a reflection of her interest in light and shadow, and her affection for rustic and complex natural yarn colors.

Vivian is a multi-talented creative person, and it was such a treat to hear her perspective on how all of her experiences across her various practices have come together to influence each other in what you see of her present-day practice.

Find Vivian: Website | Instagram

Want more? 

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• Follow along on Instagram

• Support the podcast through patreon

Until next time! 

xx

ani

EPISODE 61 :: Francisco Diaz of Cisco Sews

The Close Knit podcast aims to hold space for conversation about the ways we use fiber to process life and world events

In Episode 61 of the Close Knit Podcast, the first episode of 2021, I spoke to Francisco Diaz of Cisco Sews. Francisco is a multidisciplinary creative craftsman with a keen visual eye. A sewing newbie focused on second-hand upcycling and material transformation. Francisco aims to be constantly trying new things, sustain imperfect sustainability and remain queer af.

Francisco and I covered a ton of ground in this episode, and I loved every minute. We talked about gender expression and dressing in a way that feels (and is) safe, and how this sense of safety can be modulated by community. We discussed how our creative expression is shifted by the area around us - in Francisco’s instance, the difference in their creative expression between their time in LA and in their current home in Arizona.

We discuss our perception that attitudes, in general, toward thrifting and sustainability have shifted over time and how the upcycling community has grown after the past decade or so. Francisco talks me through his approach to upcycling and how he first got into making his own garments, taking inspiration from the online fashion community, and finding ways to make his own garments through trial and error. We talk about the well-intentioned advice-giving that is widespread within the making community, and how sometimes, we just want to make the mistakes on our own and learn as we go.

Francisco explains to me how they believe that social media has accelerated the learning process for many when it comes to making & upcycling, but that they themselves can also feel constricted by social media norms when it comes to expressing their identity and their making process with nuance and care. He has also at times felt pressured to sell his work, a feeling that has sometimes stripped some of the joy of making for him. (In case it’s not obvious, I related to a lot of what Francisco spoke to!)

Francisco’s work is just phenomenally beautiful - I love the way he has cared for and nurtured both his dressing identity and his curiosity about garment construction and sustainability through his sewing practice. Be sure to browse Francisco’s Instagram for loads of lovely garment-making inspirations & stop by his site to read his wonderful interviews with other makers in the community!

Find Francisco: Website | Instagram

Want more? 

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EPISODE 60 :: Grace Rother

The Close Knit podcast aims to hold space for conversation about the ways we use fiber to process life and world events

In Episode 60 of the Close Knit Podcast - the final episode of 2020, I spoke to Grace Rother, a lesbian quilt-maker and writer. I have long admired Grace’s practice - her way of making things accessible and her deep clarity on how she makes and shares. We talk about her quilt raffles this year, most recently culminating in her virtual quilting bee raising funds for Assata’s Daughters, an effort of more than 100 quilt-patch makers. Grace and I discuss the ways that textiles hold a softness for concepts and ideas that might feel a bit scary or out of our norm, like defunding the police and abolishing prisons. We talk about translating cozy sweater trends through DIY knitting, and how boundaries come into play when sharing online.

Grace has shifted her practice over this year to change how she engages with Instagram, a shift I have been taking notice of and wondering if I might find a similar path - and we talk about how that shifting attention feels and looks for her. This is the final episode of 2020, and I feel so grateful that Grace joined me for this chat!

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Find Grace: Website | Patreon

Want more? 

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Until next time! 

xx

ani

EPISODE 59 :: Carolina Jimenez

The Close Knit podcast aims to hold space for conversation about the ways we use fiber to process life and world events

In Episode 59 of the Close Knit Podcast, I spoke to Carolina Jimenez. carolina is a mexican-american textile artist and designer living in brooklyn. she is currently the creative director at caroline z hurley and also maintains an art practice. she makes monuments - memory signifiers, vessels into which the past is poured, molded, or reshaped (woven, unraveled, or stretched). these monuments reference the body-my body and yours-they speak to the magnificence of our daily lived experience and the monumentality of the mundane.

Carolina and I cover a whole range of things you might expect in a conversation in 2020 - anxiety and learning to name it as such, voting (and the whole host of barriers that keep folks from voting or having information to vote), and learning to quiet the voice that tells you you’re “behind” in your career of life path.

Carolina remembers learning to embroider as a child from her grandmother and having an overall interest in craft and keeping her hands busy. She also decided at an early age that architecture would be her path - until she took a weaving studio class in college and immediately felt its magic.

She went on to study a masters program in textiles as RISD, and began working for Caroline Z Hurley, all while keeping her own textile practice going. We discuss the ways that colleges can be a source of a network, and also how we aim to practice ‘networking’ in a less extractive way than the term can imply. We both have noticed mutual aid networks growing this year and are excited by the opportunity to get involved at the local scale in our communities.

Carolina and I tie up our conversation with a bit of conjecture into Instagram culture and how we might subvert the influencer culture in our own ways of sharing our process & practice. She speaks to her current studio practice and the garments she is collaborating with Nayila Wright to bring it to life.

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Find Carolina: Instagram | Website

Want more? 

• Subscribe: Itunes

• Follow along on Instagram

• Support the podcast through patreon

Until next time! 

xx

ani