Conversation with Amy Meissner

What do a penny in a nightlight, a suitcase of family mending, and 500+ women named "Unknown" have in common? 

Anchorage artist Amy Meissner joins the Salvage podcast to talk about turning inherited textiles into powerful art, teaching repair as self-care, and why the thing spontaneously combusting in her house was her. This conversation will make you want to dig out your mending pile immediately. 

https://www.amymeissner.com/

https://www.instagram.com/amymeissnerartist 

https://dairybarn.org/quilt-national-archive-history-2/

https://www.anchoragemuseum.org/

https://momentummag.com/bike-pogies-101-elevate-your-winter-bicycling-game/ 

This podcast was created by Natalya Khorover. It was produced and recorded by Natalya, as well as researched and edited by her. SALVAGE is a product of ECOLOOP.ART.

If you enjoy this show, please rate and review us wherever you’re listening—and be sure to come back for another conversation with a repurposed media artist.

Music theme by RC Guida

Visit Natalya’s website at www.artbynatalya.com

Visit Natalya’s community at www.repurposercollective.com

Visit Natalya’s workshops at https://www.ecoloop.art/

Transcript

Welcome to Salvage, a podcast for conversations with artists about the repurposed materials they use in their art practice.

Please enjoy my conversation with Amy Meissner. Anchorage, Alaska artist Amy Meissner combines traditional handwork, found objects and abandoned textiles to reference the literal, physical, and emotional labor of women. Manipulating discarded household cloth to create two dimensional quilts like forms and three dimensional objects serves as a cultural nod to the embroidery created by the generations of Scandinavian women in her family, and confronts societal disregard and erasure of women's handwork.

Amy says - this is time based work, using old skills, an act of cutting apart, then piecing oneself back together.

Thank you so much, Amy, for agreeing to chat with me. I'm excited for this conversation. Me too. Yeah, I was thinking back. We met in 2017, right at Quilt National. Yes. Okay. I wasn't sure of the year, and I kind of. I had to, like, skim through your resume and my resume like, oh, okay. That matched up in my making this.

Where is that? Yeah. Where's the Venn diagram of our relationship? Yeah. Yeah. So, I'm glad that we have continued keeping up. Maybe I do. I find of I'm proud of ourselves for for keeping in touch. You know, not all the time, but it's, You know, it's been nice. Yeah, it has been like. I think it was a little more intense keeping up in the beginning, and then it kind of filtered out.

But, you know, that makes sense. Like, I blame Covid. Covid. Yeah. And, you know, we're a pretty big distance apart. You're in Alaska and I'm in New York. So yeah. Time difference. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So, I wanted to talk to you about your art practice, but one of my, one of the things I'm always curious about is an artist's path to becoming an artist.

So were you an artist as a kid? I was I was an artist as a kid, and I was I was also really insecure and really shy. Like, really painfully shy. And when my mom realized, that I like to draw, I liked to work with my hands. One of the first things that I asked to be taught was how to embroider.

That was something that I was the oldest child. So she had time. It was, something that she made time for, I would say in her day was to sit and embroider. And she tells this story of me coming at, you know, 2 or 3 years old with some string off of my toy or something and saying me to, you know, I want to do this, and then you show me.

And so once she realized that I have this, I guess, propensity, to work with my hands and to to work visually with artwork, she really encouraged it. And I think she felt like it boosted my confidence to have something that I could become good at, or that came naturally, maybe in the beginning. And then she, you know, was able to foster just with her encouragement.

And so, yeah, I have always been an artist, which is kind of a not a hard thing to say, but I think it's something that, is important to recognize because I've done a lot of work in different fields that kind of overlap. You know, back to that sort of Venn diagram. I spent 12 years in the fashion industry before that.

I ended up with, I have undergraduate degrees in art and also textiles, and ended up going to the fashion industry. And and then after words, I ended up illustrating children's books, and I was a painter when I did that work. And then when I had kids, I reached back for textiles again because it was, form that I could work in, in a medium that I could work in.

And that was, it made more sense when I had little kids. They weren't. Yeah. You know, I was illustrating books when you had to Fedex your paintings to the publisher. I mean, so you had to get slides taken of your work. I mean, it was a big deal. It was in some ways, you know, a different kind of labor intensity than it does now.

It would it's still very labor intensive, but it was just physically different. And so if you had a little helper who thought they needed to make a little mark on your completed painting, you know, there was no way to fix that easily. And so, whereas with textiles, fiber, it was it was more forgiving, in terms of motherhood.

And that is that was the kind of care that I needed from those materials at that time. I could reach back to me being a 2 or 3 year old, sitting with my mother and doing this kind of work. It made sense to me. Finally, I think this long lineage of women in my family who all did that kind of work and they did it for, you know, the pleasure of doing that work.

They did it to beautify their home. They did it to donate to the church in Sweden like I. That was a huge thing for my family. And they did it with little kids, you know, great grandmother had nine children on a farm and, she still managed to crochet throughout the year. This her specialty was this narrow crocheted band, like a filigree that would then get inserted into a top sheet, and then that would be donated to the state church every year around Christmas time, and it would be auctioned off with other work from other women in the village.

And her work was really well known. It never had her name on it anywhere. But everyone knew of, you know, and Nannie’s, her name was Nannie, Nannie’s sheets will last a really long time. Her hand work is really, really strong. She uses the right kind of thread. And so there was this the same way of establishing yourself within a community by your handwork.

And a lot of that kind of trickled down and it became a really important part of my own life. Yeah, that's really wonderful that you have such a long heritage of that kind of work. I think that's kind of becoming more and more rare these days. I feel that way, too. I think, one of the things I really tried to do with my own kids is make sure that they learned, both of them know how to use a sewing machine.

The first thing that my son ever made was he had this idea. He's like, mom, I have this idea for all of my Nerf bullets. I want to have this, like, thing that comes across my chest with all my Nerf bullets in it. Like a band where you want a bandolier on. So. So we figured out how to make it and we used like wide elastic.

And I taught him how to stitch it, you know, in lines and a sewing machine. And he could stick all of his Nerf bullets in it. And he's still ripping hand repairs all of his clothes. That is amazing. He just it's it's his he's, you know, puts the big headphones on and whatever he's listening to and just does handwork.

And I think it's his way of like regulating his nervous system. Yeah. My daughter is incredible at crocheting like little teeny teeny tiny octopuses and things and making earrings. And you know, they're just they're both like, really, really artistic and and hands on and physical with their surroundings. And I think growing up in Alaska has a lot to do with that. How’s that?

I think I think folks up here are used to being remote. There I remember a time, I mean, I've been here for 26 years. I remember when nobody's shipped to Alaska, right? There was no. Yeah. Like Amazon was like, well, maybe they'll ship here. But, you know, we were part of the noncontiguous us. So it was like us in Hawaii, you know, and so you could, you could sort of order things online, but not really.

And you'd get all the way through the thing and then say, oh, sorry. You know, we actually don't ship to you. So I think there's this long history, and oh my gosh, certainly with indigenous culture of, of using what is at hand and making it work. And the same is true of what I guess, for lack of a better term, I would call like settler culture, which I am part of.

And so, now Amazon's here. Now we can get whatever we want. It takes a little bit longer, right. Takes a week, takes, you know, six days or whatever. It's not overnight, the next day shipping. But that's okay now, now, which is fine. You know, it's I think I think up here we've learned to, like, live with a kind of tempered, immediate gratification.

Like, it's sort of like taking a pause. Maybe I don't need this thing. Maybe there's something else. Maybe I can tweak a thing. Maybe I can fix a thing. You know, I think there's. Just because there's that lag time. I think it kind of, in some ways, I know for our family, anyway, it has kind of forced us to just take a pause, take a beat.

Do I really need it? I'm going to write this down tempered immediate gratification. That sounds like a name of an exhibition. Know. Just pulled it right out of my head. I don't even know if that's the right terminology, but, yeah, I think anything that anything we can do, you know, for us, for our, mental health to,

Yeah. Just take a beat. Take a moment. Do you do you need to consume that thing? Do you need to say that thing? Do you know, maybe it's the first thing that popped into your head, but is it the first thing that needs to come out of your mouth? Maybe not. So. Yeah, absolutely. I remember, you know, being told by my parents or by that, you know, like think before you speak.

That used to be a saying that everybody said think before you speak. I'm not so sure that is something that's being said. These days, being practiced or perfect openness that our practice. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, I mean, I think it's good to, you know, certainly within your family culture and certainly within your friend culture. I think it's, I know I'm, I'm I am drawn to people that that practice these kind of same principles, I guess.

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

can you tell me a little bit,

how did you decide to start creating art? Did you just start making things for your family? And then somehow that transition into making art, or did you start making things to be art from the very beginning, when you transitioned from your careers and had children and started making, it was I felt very much like I had a latent skill.

I used to make custom made wedding gowns and with clients and, and I really, had good training on how to fit the body, but also how to fit the mind and of a of a client, which, there's a lot of hand-holding that happens, when you're working with brides. And. Absolutely. So there was I've always had this sort of like, emotional and measurement, even with which was not healthy for me as a 20 something, to, to be emotionally attached to a wedding gown that you're sending out the door that this person it to them, it was an object.

I mean, yes, it was important, but also they had no problem going and jumping in a fountain for a photo opportunity, at which point I would have to fix their problem later. Usually returning in a steaming garment bag after their honeymoon where this dress had been sitting for, you know, two weeks rotting. Yeah. Body. Yeah. Thanks. Now it's my problem.

That, to be emotionally attached to objects like during that time, like I said, was not healthy. But I, also had enough training as an artist in undergrad

to have that impulse, of communicating through artwork. And it I was my emphasis was on drawing and painting. I never made artwork out of fiber or textiles, and I never did that.

And then, the first, the very first piece that I ever made was based on, I guess I would call it a narrative piece. It was based on something that happened. And it I can describe that story. It, and I felt like I needed something. I needed a conduit to say what I needed to say and to work through in a really repetitive way, what had happened and why.

I didn't respond to it initially in the correct way, and how how I came to understand the situation. So the very first piece that I made was a wall hanging, and it was in the quilt form, it was all pieced, made from textiles that were in my trunk that my great grandmother had made, that my grandmother in Sweden had made, that aunts had made things that had been sent to me that felt too precious to use.

And I don't want to use the word burdensome, but they were definitely objects that I needed to manage and transport and care for and and yet not really use. Yeah. So it's sort of like the save the best for never kind of situation. And I think, well, I know after I had, both of my kids, I really had some postpartum struggles that lasted for a long time.

You know, they didn't, manifest themselves as, like deep depression. But I certainly had, like, postpartum anxiety, postpartum OCD. And it was, you know, I can I'm looking back now. I'm like, oh, that's what was going on. Yeah. You know, I wasn't going crazy. I was hormonally challenged. And so this event happened where I had a brand new baby, my second child, and my son was just a little guy, and he slipped a penny behind a nightlight in the hallway, and it fuzed to the the prongs and.

Yeah. And it and I was in the shower when this happened. And I was like, don't, you know, don't go anywhere. Mom's going to have, like, a 15 second shower while the baby's napping. I mean, it was that kind of thing. And all of a sudden that smoke detector is going off in the house that, like, hard wired, fire alarm.

And I come barreling out of the shower with my, like, the towel. I'm dripping wet, and he's just standing in the hallway, like, pretty much where I'd left him. You know what? He seconds earlier and I knew that he had had a coin in his pocket earlier, and it was like the first thing that popped into my head because he had his hands in his pocket.

And I said, what did you do with the penny? And his little eyes just kind of went, well, it's part of the light. And that's when I realized it was like black smoke shooting up the wall. And it was bad. It was really bad. So nothing caught on fire. But his experience with the noise and like, it was like the direct like his actions had a direct consequence.

And and he was trying to figure it out. And he asked me starting that day and continuing on for what seemed like months, mama went in, this house can catch on fire. What, what, what's going to catch on fire? And I was like, well, these curtains are going to catch on fire and the carpet's going to catch on fire and the clothes are going to catch on fire.

The paper is going to catch on fire, and you're going to catch on fire. And we're like, that's your first. It's just like by the time he'd asked me, you know, like the 12th time, I was just like over it. And then it occurred to me, like, I am not answering this kid's question. Like, I'm not I'm not practicing good parenting.

I'm not drilling down to, like, find out what this kid is actually afraid of. And what he was asking was what can just catch on fire for no reason? And what? So he was asking about spontaneous combustion. That is what he was asking, right? And so the piece that I made up was in direct response to everything that I just described to you.

This story. And it is a quilt, not unlike the quilt that's behind me that repeats, I think, ten times. Mama, what in this house can catch on fire throughout all of the the blocks? And it's it's made out of these vintage linens and this crochet work. So it's mostly white. And then the letters are kind of a dark gray wool.

And it is so powerful. And the piece is called spontaneous combustion. And what I realized, I mean, I worked on this thing for like a year because when you have little kids and you're doing you're doing hand turned applicant wool letters like you're just seen instead of time stealing time. Yeah. Each each letter takes 20 minutes. Doesn't matter if it's an R or a T or I’s go pretty fast.

O’s are tricky. R’s are tricky, you know? And, Yeah, by the time I got through the end of it, I had so much time to process and think about what had happened and my response to it. And his response to it. And now there was an object that literally was a time capsule of that event. I realized the title had to be Spontaneous Combustion, and the thing in the house that was spontaneously combusting was me.

Yeah, it was me. And as somebody who has gone through a postpartum situation, like I really felt like, oh my God, that that piece allowed me to crawl out of that dark space. The work was I entered it into a show at the Anchorage Museum. It got into the show. I'd never had anything at the museum before.

That was a huge, big deal. And then it won the Jurors Choice Award, and then the museum purchased it. So it's in the permanent collection of the Anchorage Museum, which, I mean, it just blew me away that I had I had something to say. I had a problem to work through. I could reach back into a like this long history of craft.

Show it in a museum with literally all the women in my family. A part of it, because their work allowed my work to even happen. Yeah. And, and that was the trajectory and that was I think in like, I don't know, 2014 or I think I probably started working on the piece in 2010. I think I finished it in 2013.

I mean, it was like it was a long haul to get that piece finished and not and really living in the not knowing, like, I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know what I'm going to do with it. I don't know where it's going to go. I it just felt so important to do it right. And I think that's where all that training to, you know, an art school to like be an artist and be in that uncomfortable space of not knowing served me really, really well.

And have you continued to serve me? Yeah, that's a really long answer. No, that was great. That was that was an awesome story. But I think that that is an important part of any artist's art practice is being in that space of not knowing. It is really uncomfortable. Yeah, but it's important. It is because, you don't know what you don't know, and you can try and control your life.

You can try and control all the things, all the people, all the feelings. But ultimately, all you can do is control yourself and how you show up. And if that means I'm showing up in my studio, I try to get in here every single day. It life happens. I don't,

sometimes I just show up and just move stuff around.

Oh yeah, I unpack a box, repack it, read regroup materials together, rethink them, throw things away. I, you know, I can't keep everything. And so sometimes I'm like, why did I why do I have all of these things, you know, that I picked up off of the road? You know, I'm not going to use them. So it's time to let them go.

And I think that too is really helpful, to, to let things go because I think they just take up space. It's almost like they make like a giant plug and and the energy just can't come through, can't come through. You can't come through the space that you're working in. And so sometimes just a big old purge is super important.

I will completely agree. I, you know, there's things that I hold onto and I'm like, all right, I know what I want to do with this. It's going to happen some day and some day becomes years and years and years. And then I look at it like, I don't want to make what I thought I was going to make out of this anymore changed.

You'd have changed. Yeah. On a cellular level, like you as a person, you have changed and and it doesn't. And you just kind of let go. You got to let go. Yeah. So after that piece, you started a whole new art practice for yourself essentially. I did, and yeah. And it was and it's continued. It's a and I would say, it I have never felt shy about saying that I have an art practice that is rooted in motherhood, and it is it has emerged from motherhood.

It is in response to motherhood. It is feelings around motherhood. And this just the domestic space. Yeah. And I think some of it has to do with the textiles that I use. I mean, they they are they originated from the domestic space. I still use, what I kind of think of as abandoned embroideries, abandoned handwork, certainly anonymous.

And there are mountains of it in the world. And I think my first impulse to go through my own trunk and my own collection had a lot to do with frugality. Yeah. I didn't I there was, well, at that time and now to, there was nothing that would, like, deflate my, interest and my inspiration more than walking into, like, a quilt store because I'm not interested in.

I'm not interested in that fabric. I've no idea. You know, it's mass produced. I'm like, that's. I mean, it's great. It's great. If you want to make a bed quilt. Awesome. It's sturdy, it's colorful, it's fun, it's strong. I think it's great. But to make a piece of artwork, like I just it was not inspiring to me. And they're just like the energy that lives inside a an unwanted domestic textile.

Whether it's a a potholder or a table runner or a crochet, whatever. That is interesting to me. Yeah, that a woman and I will say it's a woman because there I know there are men out there who embroider, and I have received work from a man who who just really got on a cross-stitch kick and made all kinds of sailboat images.

But yeah, those are rare. Those are rare. I know that a special. Yeah. But I will say primarily women, of like a certain era, nobody signed their things, but they made prolifically. Prolifically and sometimes never finished things. Yeah. Just. Yeah. Made me the the flower part of the needlepoint but left the, the background because that's boring.

Nobody wants to do that part. Yeah. So, I'm, I'm interested in that energy. I'm interested in what the back looks like. I'm interested in, you know, especially garments. Like, I've done huge projects before where there was no way I could afford for, like, a commissioned project of a set amount. There was no way I could afford the fabrics that I needed if I had bought it at retail.

Right. So I did for I use clothing. Yeah, like there's so much clothing in the world that they used to be that you could get good quality fabric and now it's it's tanking, unfortunately, which is really sad. Yeah. So, yeah, it's that's kind of that's always been my go to. Yeah. So a few years ago. Oh gosh.

It's so hard to judge time. It was pre-pandemic. I'm quite sure of it. You were asking people everywhere, I think, to send you, either doilies or unfinished embroideries or just whatever vintage things that you, they no longer needed. And it was lace and crochet and everything. And I remember being very grateful to be able to send you a whole bunch of stuff that I had that I had no use for.

And you did a really sweet thing. And actually, I'm looking over there on my, on my design wall over there. I remember you as a thank you. You sent a little crocheted flower attached to a hang tag where you actually wrote when you made it, that it was you who made it. And I think what it was made from, I can't see it from you can't read it from here.

Which which was lovely. It was. It's something I treasure. It's still hanging there. I think I have 2 or 3 of them. You were a repeat offender. Yeah, but, yeah, I think I think I changed colors. Maybe even if it if someone. Yes, I have two red and one ecru. Yes. Yeah. First time and then the second two.

Yeah. Second two box. What was. What do you remember what that project was that you were collecting all those textiles for? Yeah. It was, I want to say it was probably started in about 2015 or so, and I called it the Inheritance Project. And there again, I had no idea what I was doing. I had an active blog at that time, and it was just kind of a way of,

the had I just met so many people through that blog, when I think about it, and blogging was big back then, it was big.

Yeah. I had a blog read, a community that erupted from, from a the blog. It was so lovely. But yeah, I had asked, or I had offered, I'll say it this way to be, kind of the final inheritor, right? If you had a box or a drawer or a cupboard full of things that, you know, you you knew you weren't going to use, that you knew nobody else in your family wanted, like, please ask.

Ask the nieces, ask the grandchildren, ask the sisters. Like, make sure nobody wants it. And if that's the case, I will be the final inheritor and I will I will cut it up. I was like, I'm like, I can't, I couldn't take things. Yeah, I remember you all. You were very good at it. Yeah. Not going to stay the way it is.

I will destroy this. Yeah. If you are okay with that, think about it. You know, I will happily receive. And it was I don't remember. I mean, there were hundreds of people that sent me things and I had a, solo show at the Anchorage Museum based on that project, and it was called inheritance. And one of the installations on the wall was done.

With vinyl lettering on the wall. And it was a list, I think there were like, I don't know, 5 or 600 names on this list, because one of the things that I asked people was like, if you know anything about the maker, when it was made, where it was made, send it along. And some people did. Some people put like little tags on things and pinned notes on things, and other people like, I have no idea where this came from.

I don't know why I haven't, I don't know, I've been lugging it around from like Kentucky to Missouri to California to Nebraska. I've been carrying this stuff around. I don't know why. So of this list of names on the wall. Hundreds. That's amazing. You made a list of those names that people said, well, wow, 90%, 90 or more percent of those names was the word unknown.

Right. And then you'd have, like, enlisted the word unknown. Oh my gosh, every single item that I receive, I have a binder with a spreadsheet full. It was such a physical project. Wow. I have like, who sent me what all the different items like one doily, one table runner, this and this and this and this and and the person's name and any maker or identifying information.

It is, it is. It was a massive project. Wow. And it allowed me to make this list. And it I would watch people in the gallery, like, come up to this list and start reading it, and it was titled like list of contributors or list of makers. I think is what. And you could see like the wheels turning for, for people when they're reading and they're just like, oh, like we don't even know who makes all of these things.

And yeah, it's one thing to have a grandparent or, you know, someone in your life who you remember watching crochet or do handwork or something, but but then what happens to it? Yeah, right. It just it just goes, I don't know, just goes into the ether kind of. And so yeah, it was a powerful project and it, I did a, there was a community art component to it and it was just yeah, it was I was really, really grateful to have a space at the museum to have this show.

I actually just sold a piece that was part of that show. And the person who bought it for me was a man. He bought it for his wife, and he said, I always regretted not buying one of these. It was one of a number together. One of these back when you had your show and that and this was like the one that was left that it was, the size that he wanted, and I still had it.

And it stuck with him from 2018 until. That's amazing a week ago, literally. And so it it's that kind of I feel like it's these materials are really potent in that way. They're really sticky and they're intimate. Like people come right up to the work and you can see them like shove their hands in their pockets so that they don't.

But I think what happens when you have that like that draw or I think textiles do this like they they create a close proximity. And it's, it is when somebody is really close to something, that's when you can deliver that gut punch. Because now they're up and now they realize what is actually happening, on the textile or in the piece or what it's saying or, or the looking at the title and they're looking back at the piece and kind of doing this back and forth dance and like, understanding, what this work is doing.

So at least that's my I've seen it, but it's my hope that it's like that. That is what happens. Right? Right. It's not like I'm entering into it like, okay, this is what I'm going to say and this is what I can do. It's like, no, everybody's going to come to the work with their own history or their own experience.

Always. Right. But but yeah, I think it's a, it's it's been a good, kind of connective tissue in terms of, like communicating with other people. Yeah. And do you remember what the community component of that exhibition was? Yeah. So I had a series of workshops, at the Anchorage Museum leading up to the exhibition. I had a a bunch of hankies, like linen handkerchiefs that had come, and all different sizes and shapes and colors and embroideries or not, or simple and ornate.

And I asked these participants who would sign up in advance. I think there were about 80 or 90 people. Oh, wow. Who who did this project? I asked them to bring an object and to I think, how did I word it? I think you had to, like, think about a woman in your life. That's what it was.

Bring an object that you were ready to release. That had to be small and and answer the question for yourself. She is or she was. And whatever that word was, was then embroidered on these prepared handkerchiefs. They were backed with silk organza. So they were sheer. And then I taught people how to embed an object in between those two layers, as well as embroider this word.

So the, the community art piece was called she is smart. She was. And then it's just these words that are describing their experience and memory of, of whoever this woman was that they chose. And I mean, there's like there are rings embedded in it. There's a pair of underwear, like lacy thong underwear embedded in it. Jewelry, like one person, brought in a broken pearl bracelet that her mother in law, actually ex mother in law had, like, real quick put on her wrist like, right before she went down the aisle to marry this woman's son and and then divorced later or whatever.

But this bracelet, which was, you know, the beads were everywhere is all broken. These little pearls was such, it was such a reminder of her mother, ex mother in law. And she embedded it inside of of these two layers, and I, I can't remember what the term was that she embroidered on there. It was like she I think it was like too intense or like involved or something like that, remember?

But it was like super meaningful her for meaningful for her to like through this memory and to release this object. So for not for everyone, it was not personal or not positive. Some people had some really negative emotion. They had to drive into it. What happened? That's all psyches. That's they were strong, like stitched together so that they hung, alternating in like alternating columns of ten.

I think this is how they were installed. They were installed from the ceiling and the lights shone through them. So the pattern play was really beautiful on the floor. You could walk all the way around them. And and that became, part of the permanent collection at the angle, too. Wow. That's amazing. Yeah, I hadn't thought about that piece in a long time.

That was that was an amazing experience to work with so many people.

Hey. Taking a short break here to tell you that this episode has been brought to you by the Repurposer Collective. So if you're enjoying this episode and you love repurposing old doilies and laces and inherited linens and garments for your art practice, the Repurposer Collective is a place for you. If you are repurposing other materials such as plastic, such as paper, such as cardboard.

The Repurposer Collective is the place for you. Whether you are doing all these things by yourself and have been doing them for a long time and have become an expert on them, or you're just starting out and you're wondering how to get started. And all of these materials, the Repurposer Collective is the place for you. So I hope you'll join us.

The doors are open. Repurposer Collective dot com. And now back to my conversation with Amy. Thanks.

I don't know if that was the first time you worked with so many people, but you seem to have, a history of working with many people in teaching them how to sew or teaching them how to mend, how to repair you. You're still doing that, or even more so you're doing that a lot more now.

No. Yeah. I've been, there is a consistent, series of workshops that I teach also through the Anchorage Museum. I've been doing that since 2019, and that is part of a project that they have that's actually in a separate building called the Seed Lab. And I have when I first started, I was co-teaching with another artist and then, Covid at the time she left the state, I was teaching through the Anchorage Museum, online, doing different workshops and things, sometimes for kids and sometimes for adults or elders and, and then then we kind of started it back up.

And when we did start it back up in person, I brought on two more people to co-teach with me, Jamie Hirano and Ming Stevens. And they're incredible. And I love having the three of us because there are so many ways to repair something. And if the three of us consult on a repair, it will be three different ways to repair it, all of them valid.

And it can be probably a little bit overwhelming for people who participate in these workshops. But, but we really try to send people out the door with a solid plan. Even if they can't, you know, they're only two hours long. Some people come with like a bag of, garments that need to be repaired. And so we'll consult on all of them and give them at least a plan.

And I think the most important thing is to provide people with the possibility that this, that there is hope. Right. And and I think the that's such a relief for people. And up here especially, I think there's, there's just a long history of repair and maintenance up here. Like that is just what people have always had to do.

Yeah. And I think there's enough young people who are realizing like, wow, I, I need this gear. What we refer to as gear that is like made of wool. And it's going to last me a long time. And it's it's sometimes technical fabrics, but sometimes really, you know, old timey like wool fabrics or things that are tried and true.

They're expensive. And when you're 30 something and you're just starting out in your career or your marriage or whatever, I've had, like couples come to these workshops and lugging like an old sewing machine or whatever, because they really want to take care of their stuff. Yeah, right. It's so there's just this, like, hope and like, long term thinking.

And, you know, we talk about maintenance, we talk about how to launder, we talk about how to care for these things. We talk about short term fixes. Sometimes you're out in the field and you're going to be out there for, you know, a week and all you have is duct tape. And if you're down, whatever is leaking feathers everywhere, you got to get that duct tape on there A.s.a.p. until you get back home.

And then you can repair it like a more long term solution. Like we don't poo poo anything. There's no one right way to do what you know, what you need to do. The main thing is that you have the impulse to repair something that's broken. That that should be your first impulse is to repair it, or find someone who can or come to these workshops, learn what's possible.

You know, we we don't see it being done all the time and even like repair shops up here. I think we're down to one shoe repair place. Yeah. In Alaska. Like, wow. That's crazy. That's it. That's all we have. And and they are. I just learned this from a friend of mine last month. They are backed up until April.

And so. And she learned that in November. So she took a pair of boots down to this place and they gave her this information, and they sent her home with, like, the proper waxed thread and some instructions. And she went home and fixed her boots. That's how some of the sewer fare place told her to do. I mean, that I love that story.

I love it so much because, like, people care about these things. Yeah. No, I think that I think there's a resurgence of people wanting to mend and fix things like we have. At least here. There's repair cafes popping up everywhere in great basements or in, you know, community centers. And they're not there all the time. But they do, like, you know, every other Sunday pop ups or something like that.

And I think that's wonderful. It is wonderful. It's wonderful to share that knowledge, whether whether you're sitting with somebody and they're helping you repair your toaster or a lamp or, or a pair of jeans or something, there's this immense amount of knowledge that older, I will say, older generations are the ones who are holding this knowledge. Yeah. And oh man, we have to get we have to pass it on.

We do have to. There is no corporation in the world who wants you to be able to repair. There's thing like, I wish, I wish that there was. And I think some of the maybe outdoor companies are kind of realizing because there's been enough pushback. Certainly Patagonia and some of their companies that are providing care, like kind of long term care for their garments and taking responsibility for what they're making and putting out in the thousands into the world and making changes.

Yeah, I someone told me that Patagonia in particular, they do like a welded zipper, so there's no stitching on it at all. So when that zipper breaks, that's it. Yeah, that's it. And I'm so someone told me that they have maybe stopped using this technique of manufacturing or have adjusted it in some way. But I mean, I think really what needs to happen as consumers, we need to be educated enough to know what we're purchasing and know, like, okay, I'm buying, let's say this pair of shoes, can they be resold or can they ever be resold?

Can they be, you know, the the soul of the shoe? Can it be replaced? And and if not, maybe I shouldn't buy this pair. Maybe I need to look for something else. Maybe. You know, but we don't even know. It's possible because in my case, there's one shoe repair in place in the whole state. So you don't even know it's possible.

No, you're not seeing it being done. Repair is done off site. It's done. Like in the workplace. Repair happens at night when nobody else is there. That's right. Or any kind of maintenance or anything like that. So you can see it happening. Yeah. There used to be there isn't done in the home anymore either. Right. You don't see it happening now.

There used to be a dry cleaning shop where I used to live, and they had machines out front, and there would be a little old lady who was the mother of the people running the shop who would do repairs. Yeah, but they're gone. I just drove by that little mini mall recently and I was like, oh, they're gone.

I mean, I haven't dry clean clothes in decades, but, you know, no, but as a supplementary like service to offer people repair, certainly like in the dry cleaning realm, like. Yeah, absolutely. Machines are always out in the front. And yeah, I should look into what the situation is up here in terms of that because I need to be able to I think it's important to know, like who is repairing things locally.

You know, who's who is making we have something called a bike pogie. And it's a giant sleeve that goes over your hand and over the handle. It sticks on the outside. So it's for winter biking. Oh yeah. And I just I didn't know there was a name for it called pogie. So I just learned last Mario two weeks ago or whenever that there's a woman here in Anchorage who is making bike pogies out of, like, discarded coats and jackets.

And I'm like, trying to, like, bring her into this bigger, larger repair conversation. And, you know, so it's just it's like ongoing, like, who's doing the stuff? Yeah, it's nobody's doing it, but we just need to, like, connect them all. Yeah. In this larger conversation, I, I'm glad that is fueling a resurgence because I have a very fond memory of learning how to mend socks with my grandmother.

And she was not particularly gifted a sewing. I think I've sent you her attempts at that, and not that I expect you to remember them, but she mended. That was just the thing that we did. And then I remember, doing learning how to sew on a button and, you know, learning the basic mending things. And then I had a, a fashion career as well at fashion and costume career.

So I know a lot of textile and garment sewing techniques. And, you know, while I lived with my parents, I certainly did things for them for, you know, for my dad, you know, besides ironing his shirts or whatever. And, you know, when I was first married, I remember, you know, hemming my husband's pants and all of that. But I remember when I first got into the art quilting realm, there was this thing people were talking just because I know how to sew doesn't mean I'm going to hem your pants.

And people were like, very against being asked to repair or fix or hem or do alterations, and I sort of understand it, but at the same time. It doesn't feel right. Like, yeah, I think I have a lot of feelings around that. And I will, I will describe the class. Actually, this is, I think, a good way to like, sort of amplify the feelings that I or get them cross the feelings that I have around that.

Because yes, there is like this sort of hierarchical. Right. Yeah. Thing that's happening. I will say that when I was a in the fashion industry, I did not aspire to be a repair person, and neither did anybody that I worked with. Right? Right. Nobody. We were all going to be designers or we were technical pattern makers or we were whatever.

Yeah, but nobody was like, I'm going to be a repair person. I'm going to have a shop and I'm going to repair it. Nobody wanted that. So that that is my like launching pad, right? And I had to keep my own personal repairs invisible and quiet. And yes, I'm going to do all these repairs because I didn't have the money to dress like my clients.

That was, you know, kind of how I looked at it fast forward, even just last summer, I taught, in June, I taught at Haystack School of Craft. I taught a course for two weeks called Brokenness: The Craft of Repair. And right away, folks started coming around. Check out what's happening in the fiber studio. They're like, hey, I got a rip on my thing.

You know, can you fix it? And, you know, as, there were a couple of young, younger people in their 20s in my class, and they were just like, yeah, bring it in and I'll fix it for you. And I was just like, okay, hold up. But first, here's how the culture of this classroom is going to work.

It's like, yes, we are going to care for people. We're going to care for their things. That's how we care for people. But it it let's make it reciprocal. Right. So either there's three things that can happen. Either that person stands next to you while you repair their item. So they're learning how it's being done. And they are also aware of how long it's taking you.

Yeah, they have to be right there with you or option two, you can have them sit next to you and you can teach them how to do this work. There was this whole thing happening after hours in the fiber studio. People from the ceramic studio were coming down and they were like, they're 2 or 3:00 in the morning doing stuff.

All of a sudden, like people were shown up with like patches on their jeans and, you know, it's like all over the place. Or the third thing is like, trade, right? I will do the thing for you. You don't have to pay me money, but what what do you do that, that you've invested, you know, your time and energy and that you feel like you're good at?

Like what? What can you do for me? Right. Let's trade. So I was we were about a week into the program and there was a couple of ceramics assistants, for the ceramics studio. And we were, I don't know, I think we were at a meal or something, and they're just like, I don't know what's going on. Like, all of a sudden everybody is making charms.

I don't know why they're making charms and ceramics and firing charms, but they were making charms because they were trading. Oh that's wonderful. Right. And so and it was really beautiful. Like it literally sort of like altered the trajectory of, like what was happening in a completely different studio for, for a few, like a handful of people. Yeah.

Yeah. And, but it was really beautiful. And so I sort of think about that in terms of, just theories of care. Right. And, and caregiving for another person by repairing their things, I feel is a really tender act. Yeah. Being totally taken advantage of by someone because they assume you're going to fix their thing because you loved so.

Right. That is. And I'm using you know, quotes here in the air. For those of you who are just listening, that it's, that's different. Yeah. That's different. And there was a young woman in my course who showed up with a suitcase of items to repair that belonged to her family members. And so she was repairing these things for her family members.

And I finally, like, you know, a few days. And I was like, okay, this is the last thing that you are going to repair for someone else. And now you need to do the work for you, right? Because you're your caregiving. She was I think maybe like 20 or something pretty young and being a good daughter and a good niece and, you know, it's like, okay, that's great.

But let's also take care of you. Yeah. In this class. And so when you are caring for a garment, you're touching it. It's also touching you back. You're caring for it. It's caring for you back. So there is a repetition. There is a lot within like neural pathways that are happening. And and so that kind of repetitive meditative work, which could also be a complete burden, could also be if reframed, something that that's really practicing self-care.

Yeah. There is nothing better than like getting to the end of a mending pile. We all have a mending pile. Yeah. And I chair or mending chair? Mending pile on the floor box, whatever. It feels great to go through it. What? And, you know, attend to what kind of feels like unfinished business. Yeah. Yeah. No, I was, I was sick with the flu in December, and, like, I had no energy to do anything else, but I was also sort of tired of bingeing on television, and I finally, like, got to my my own personal mending pile.

I sat there and I mended some holes in a shirt, and I embroider around stains on another shirt that were never going to come out, so I might. But I love the shirt, so I'm going to make it something else, you know? But when I find the resonance and what I find so resonant about what you just said is that you were ill.

Yeah. And, and so part of your recovery, let's call it that, you know, was I'm going to do something that's that feels productive. Yeah. But it was part of a part of your self-care too. Yeah. Absolutely was. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So I'm glad you you're feeling well. Yes. Me too. No, I think that's wonderful what you're doing there.

And I remember watching some of your Instagram videos where or maybe there were more than videos. There were, like many, photos, posts of how you were doing some interesting repairs on some odd garments and things like that. And I know a lot about garments, having spent so much time making them at one point, but it was so fascinating to me how you approached repair.

It's like it was just, I don't know. And I think it would be fascinating to someone who doesn't even know how to sew to like, go through them and go, oh, wow, that's what goes into repairing, you know, a tear in a pocket or something. And yeah, I think it's fascinating. And. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. I'm glad you've done those tutorials.

Even, you know, for people to see out there just to know what's possible. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I'm actually glad also that there's this whole, visible mending thing going on because I think that kind of makes it more fun for people who might be like, oh, there's no way I'm good enough to make this a men that can't be visible.

But if I make it somewhat artistic and with fun colors, then it becomes something fun. So, yeah, I think I think it makes it more accessible. And, certainly there are many, many situations where a person cannot wear a visible repair. Right? It could be that they're repairing a uniform, or they're in a work situation where that's just not appropriate.

And I totally understand that. And, you know, I've done big projects where I'm repairing for a lot of people, and I have them fill out a form and, ask them, you know, do you want this repair to be visible or invisible? And I would say 80% of them want it invisible, like there's still enough of a stigma where it's like, you know, especially, I would say two especially for men.

Right? I think it's like, no, just just repair the rip, ma'am, don't just don't do it. Just make it strong and sturdy. Don't do you know, And I get it. And also, it's not it's not appropriate to do some hand repair on a blown out pair of Carhartt. Yeah, that's not appropriate you know, because it's not going to

last. So yeah, it's just I think it's, it's a good exercise in active listening to like if you are repairing for someone else, like find out what they want, you know, and what they feel comfortable with. And I think I think that's just good practice anyway. Yeah. And it's interesting to me. So we started the conversation about your art practice, about you using historic textiles, inherited textiles in your art practice.

And then we've shifted into mending and repair. But that is still a part of your art practice. It is, I would call it, my social practice, is accompanying objects through this transition. Yeah. Of of repair. And and repairing with and for others is, is part of my social practice. Yeah. And it's beautiful. Thank you. Yeah.

Well, thank you so much for this conversation, Amy. It's been wonderful. Thanks, Natalya. It's been great to hang out. Yeah. Okay. But quick question. You have exhibits coming up. Anything in 26 that we should be on the lookout for? I have, I have a solo show here in Anchorage. It's a small one. And that's happening in April.

And I have a couple things here and there, but, yeah, it's been a little bit quiet lately, so. But that's fine. I've, I've needed to sort of hole up and do work for this show that's local and, yeah, pursuing a couple other things. I've been, throwing pots, which. Oh, really? Great. So I've never worked with clay before, and I really felt like I needed a completely different medium that would put me in beginner's mind mindset and really challenged me in that way, which clay definitely has.

And so, yeah, I've been spending a little bit of time, at the University of Alaska Anchorage, ceramics studio. I'm in my third semester now, which is kind of crazy. So couple of friends have fallen down that rabbit hole so I can sort of understand. Yes, yes. So, so that's but that's been really good for me, though.

It's been a while, and I think it's good for any artist to, explore a different mediums. I think it's super important. Absolutely. Got to step out of your comfort zone and play with something else, even if you never play with it again. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Well, thank you again. This was delightful. Thanks, Natalia. It was great to see you.

What a wonderful conversation. I am so glad that I had this chance to chat with Amy. She's such a thoughtful artist. It was wonderful. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did, and follow Amy on her website on Instagram. All the links are in the show notes,

And if you're interested in coming along with me, you are welcome to join the Repurposer Collective. The doors are open and we would be happy to welcome you.

drop me a line, let me know if you're interested.

And I hope to see you within the collective. Thanks.

This podcast was created, produced and edited by me, Natalya Khorover. Theme music by RC Guida. To find out more about me, go to art by natalya.com to find out about my community, go to Repurposer Collective.com and to learn with me, check out all my offerings at EcoLoop Dot Art. Thank you for listening.