Introversion After Exhibitions
My not-really-hibernation period on the last month in 2023
This month, I'm trading exhibition spaces for inner landscapes, carrying over the energy of textile showcases into personal housekeeping.
Being able to execute two showcases back-to-back was mind-blowing. Hem & Jaleo in October was my first individual showcase with a guest collaborator, whereas Fibershed Design Challenge Fall 2023 exhibition was my first group exhibition!
Two memorable milestones in a year full of blessings and lessons for this textile upcyling artist. So many design inspirations to explore, collaboration opportunities to follow, and future projects to make. Now, with the whirlwind behind me, I'm turning inward, eager to spread the joyful, vibrant emotions from the showcases to the nourishment of my inner life.
How do I nourish my inner life? By addressing and catching up with things I have been neglecting for 6 months or more. That means purging, organizing, decorating, making, and repairing things around the house and garden. And I have a strict deadline: finish everything I set out to do by December 31, 2023.
In addition to this intense housekeeping (that’s why I’m not active in social media since Thanksgiving), I would also love to do some housekeeping for Fafafoom Studio Newsletter! So, let’s start with…
Please Give Me Your Feedback!
As soon as I started house cleaning, I started contemplating about what next year would bring for Fafafoom Studio Newsletter. Even though I love long-form writing, maintaining a monthly publication was (and still is) challenging.
I have ideas to make this newsletter more exciting in the future. For me, the plan will allow integration of content across channels - paid Substack content, website, virtual platform, ecommerce (most likely Shopify), social media, and even snail mail. As I’m only one person, this multi-channel integration means one content piece will feed at least a couple more channels. This will open up my horizon of explorations, while at the same time connect with my audience in deeper and meaningful ways.
For you, reader, this means you will get to connect with me much more than my writing. You will get to have unprecedented access to my journey as a textile upcycling artist across all channels. You are already at the right place, because Substack is my vanguard channel and everything will be announced here.
Beyond your capacity as a newsletter reader, I envision some of you being prototype testers, micro batch upcycled textile owners, model / wearer of my creations, or featured interviewee.
Are you intrigued? I can go on, but I am curious about what you - the reader - think about this monthly publication so far and where it’s going. Please fill out this feedback form so I can learn more about how to improve this newsletter.
It will take 5 minutes or less of your time, but it will be priceless for me as we go forward. Thank you in advance for giving your feedback!
Introspection of Fibershed Borrowed from the Soil Exhibition
Last month, I did an introspection of Hem & Jaleo. This time, it’s time to reflect on the Fibershed Design Challenge group exhibition. What a great opportunity this showcase was!
Organized by Lexi Fujii (Fibershed’s Producer & Affiliate Network Coordinator), this group exhibition at Buddha Barn in Point Reyes was sincerely powerful. The opening day on November 10, 2023 coincided with Fibershed’s annual symposium, which naturally attracted attendees to check out the intimate exhibition after the symposium was over.
The bright and energizing vibe of Buddha Barn carried the exhibition gracefully to the next day (November 11), when we had a reception day. All 8 designers who participated in the year-long challenge were there.
Check out the Fibershed’s Borrowed from the Soil recap for more context - program and artist statements, the cycle from Farmers to Fibers to Designers, Fibershed’s partnership with California State University, Sacramento (CSUS), and many more pictures.
The reception party was supposed to last only for a couple of hours, from 11am to 1pm. Then the designers could leave, while the exhibition stayed open until 3pm.
In reality, most designers arrived a little after 10am (myself included), started greeting early visitors at 10:30am, and pretty much talked to fellow designers, visitors, and Fibershed organizers nonstop until 3pm that day. Lexi had to gently shoo people out around 3:15pm so we could all leave for the day :)
The energy that day was just so beautiful! First, each designer got a mini photoshoot session with Fibershed’s trusted photographer Paige Green before the ~2000 sq. ft. space was swarmed with visitors. On that day, I wore my trusted accidentally boro shirt and a pair of upcycled “Kain Batu” batik pants.
If you are a long-time Fafafoom reader, it’s likely that you immediately recognize that shirt. Yup, the heavily repaired fast fashion shirt from 2020 is still very much alive and well! Fellow designers and visitors love that shirt so much, and I especially appreciate the warm gazes and approving hums from makers who attended the exhibition.
By the way, do you know that this shirt is featured on Clearline Zine Issue 005?
Clearline is an annually published, environmental and sustainable textile zine based in Detroit. Issue 005 focuses on “Land: Farm to Fashion,” and I’m glad to be included in the group of amazing makers and artists. Sales proceeds benefit Detroit Black Farmer Land Fund, so go and grab your copy!
As for the fit of the pants, ugh, I’m not gonna lie. The day I saw this picture by Paige Green, the slightly sagging waistline bothered me so much. I fixed it quickly on the same day!
Things I love about Design Challenge Fall 2023 exhibition:
The planning and execution: I will not sugarcoat - it was easy breezy.
Lexi dilligently did the planning, follow-ups, and execution efficiently. We the designers could mostly focus on our prototype(s), vision for our section within the group exhibition, and not too much else.The location: Buddha Barn near Pt. Reyes Station is the perfect venue for us. The radiant energy it gave to everyone within the space was really beautiful.
The visitors: From hobbyist makers, textile developers, fiber producers, and all kinds of textile enthusiasts, I had the most wonderful time conversing with the visitors. Discussions of creativity, process, and design ingenuity flow naturally both ways. I felt so energized to witness other’s excitement and curiosity over a warm-up garment, zero waste top design, or the colorful Gathered Cloths rug.
Last but not least, the most wonderful thing about this exhibition is the connections. Connection with fellow Design Challenge participants, connection with Fibershed staff members and affiliates, as well as the opportunities to connect people with people I know. It’s such a wonderful opportunity, and I hope I can join again next year for the Spring 2024 showcase.
I also noted some opportunities for future exhibition(s):
Supporting literature: In addition to some design sketches, I had three QR codes spread around my section for visitors to scan and tap on their phone. They were linked to specific destinations - whether it’s a landing page or my Instagram profile. The problem was that with no cell reception, we had to connect to the password-protected wifi. If I were to do this again, I would scrap the QR codes entirely and stick with a thicker binder of journals documenting inspirations, process overview, and works in progress sketches. Many of my peers did that and it was such a treat to peruse their treasure trove of notes!
Visitor flow: I envisioned my section to be an open micro boutique, with three garments displayed with wooden hangers and one jumpsuit shown on a dress form. People would be encouraged to touch and try on garments. While I still thought the idea was nice, I could’ve worked on it more. Visitors would not feel shy to touch and examine the garments closely, but they would not feel inclined to try on something out of the blue. Just something for me to think deeper about; how to connect initial vision with reality of what people would / would not be inclined to do naturally.
Exhibition Aftermath: Winter Cleaning & Purging
The day before I packed and brought home my exhibition materials after the Fibershed Design Exhibition was over, I already started tearing apart my sewing studio (read: sewing room) to start purging excess fabrics from my stash.
This “small” action of purging the studio quickly snowballs into other things in the house, including circulating gently used items to the local community through Buy Nothing / Freecycle groups. End of the year is prime time for annual winter cleaning, and there are so many stuff to go around.
As I’m writing this, I’m surrounded with boxes of stuff, not yet placed in their final perching places. The purging part was almost done (thank goodness), however the biggest part of this house cleaning is a layout redo and redecoration of two rooms without buying anything new (except for some wooden dowel rods).
I’m really stoked about channeling the great energy from the exhibitions and breath new energy into the house. I had been neglecting them for so long - it’s amazing how fast one room could look like a warehouse when you just pile boxes on the floor. Although the process is messy, I’m ready to pour my time and energy into these rooms.
This also includes upcycling textile remnants into appliance covers or household linens, and sending off tired household linens and bed sheets to be naturally dyed in Suay LA’s community bath (they’re awesome and I’m so grateful they exist).
So you get the idea. My living space may look very chaotic on the outside, but the TLC energy is so real. Next month, get ready to see pictures of the results - I think the living spaces would look great: beautiful, functional, personalized lived-in coziness.
And having that living sanctuary is essential to welcome 2024. The farce of COP28's "historic" outcome and the still ongoing Palestinian genocide are two external global events that have created critical turmoil within my inner self. Who knows what 2024 will bring, many of us are bracing for what’s to come. Instead of decking the halls, exchanging white elephant gifts, or throwing sumptuous feasts, it feels more solemn and centered to work on my foundations and nourish my inner sanctuary.
Have a great rest of 2023, and I will see you on the other side.
Thank you so much for reading; until next time,
Mira Musank
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