THREADS
Close-up of "Algún dia todo esta tendrá sentido" or "Someday this will all make sense" by Ged Merino inspired by the poem "Womb Dreams" by Wanda Phipps.
​
In THREADS art and poetry respond to each other and intertwine. The textile artists in this exhibition created new works of art based on selected poems by Ukrainian and English language poets. But the true language of the exhibit is the art the poetry inspired. The artists come from diverse backgrounds such as Ukraine, U.S., Colombia and the Philippines, their work connected through their use of fiber and textile techniques that give the poetry volume in space.
​
THREADS was conceived by Virlana Tkacz and Olena Jennings. They chose poems they thought would be inspiring from work by Yara Arts Group and Poets of Queens. They presented their idea to textile artists they knew and the artists in turn suggested other artists. Ged Merino organized the first exhibitions at his Bliss on Bliss Art Projects, Topaz Arts, and Flux Factory in Queens, NY that included outdoor readings, as well as in Bogota, Colombia at Maleza Proyectos curated by Alejandra Fonseca, with involvement of local artists. He introduced the project to Carlos Quijon, Jr. who curated the show in Manila, Philippines at Drawing Room Contemporary Art. The exhibition showed at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art in Chicago Aug 26-Oct 22, 2023.
​
Read about Threads in the Ukrainian Weekly.
Order Threads: Poetry to Inspire Art at Barnes and Noble.
​
PAPER DOLL ALBUM
In my performance, Paper Doll Album, I strive to make the words tangible. I re-envision my poems as apparel although one word doesn't correspond exactly with one piece of clothing. The way something is described in a poem and the way it is sewn are different. I encourage the view to touch the clothes the way they would touch the pages of a book. Search for the words with your touch and become part of the poem.
​
Paper Doll Album was performed at Bliss on Bliss Art Projects in Sunnyside, NYC on October 2, 2021.
​
This program is made possible by the New York City Artist Corps.
MEMORY PROJECT
Memory Project is a chapbook of poetry released thanks to Queens Council on the Arts with public funds from the
NYC Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
I sort through the memories that have been passed down to me and the memories that are
of my own experiences of family and place, bringing past memory into the
present. The performance included textile art and the photographs themselves, modified.
A video by Olga Mak was shown and there was culinary art by Olesia Lew.
November 18, 2018, Memory Project Reading and Exhibition,
Queens Farm, 73-50 Little Neck Parkway, Queens.
A second event, Memory Imaging was performed at the Red Barn in Marshfield Hills, MA. Olena Jennings read with poet Dzvinia Orlowsky and Sweet Wednesday performed. The barn was decorated with white dresses made by Olena, "The dresses represent those women who have been left behind. They are like maps that lead back to ghosts. They are a lost glove in the street."
May 4, 2019, Memory Imagining, Red Barn, Marshfield Hills, MA.
A third event, was performed at Bliss on Bliss Studio. Olena Jennings read poems and hung two dresses from the project.
September 7, 2019, Memory Project, Bliss on Bliss, Sunnyside, NY.
​
Photo from Memory Project by Olga Mak
