MEKOMI
Designing and manufacturing a product set
The objects in the series Fronds and Receptacles tell the story of the journey of traditional craft techniques in Yemenite material culture—weaving, embroidery, and metalsmithing—and examine the interactions between them. These manual practices, passed down from generation to generation, share common principles of diligent handicraft which is highly detailed and informed by repeated patterns. The objects I made are suffused with the rhythms, movement ,and aroma of other lands, which are given a new, contemporary, interpretation.
Fronds - Design and manufacture of objects using traditional Yemenite techniques
"I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the fronds thereof." (Song of Songs 7:9)
The Fronds series is the result of a collaboration with a traditional Yemenite-born weaver. The encounter between us sparked an inter-generational effort that celebrates traditional Yemenite material culture and imbues it with new meaning. The works in the series are produced using the traditional weaving technique of winding date fronds (the thin branches on which the date clusters grow), but using contemporary synthetic raffia.
Receptacles
Using a technique that combines weaving, metalsmithing, and embroidery, the Receptacles series introduces a new language. Through diligent and repeated winding of thread around zipper teeth, a surface is created that simulates embroidery, resulting in highly flexible textile receptacles. Each receptacle is distinctive and unique, and their flexibility makes it possible to reshape them with one’s hand.
Photos: Tal Sivan Tziporin, Sharon Bronscher
Bags
A series of bags made of materials of disparate worlds: leftover pieces of fabric from fashion houses and a generic plastic bag, which meet at the seam.
Photo: Tal Sivan Tziporin
Balls
A series of polished clay balls, originating from a Japanese children's game, and created by Japanese technique called Dorodango. The clay balls are moulded by hand, then dried and polished. It is a long, peaceful meditative process. They are made of earth collected at the Flam Winery in the Judean Mountains. Each sphere bears the handprint of the person who made it and the pulses of the soil from which it came—thereby telling a story.
Photo: Tal Sivan Tziporin
