May 10, 2023 at 7pm
"Handmade Cloth: Exploring Ritual" with Sarah Saulson
For about a decade my studio practice has been focused on Jewish Prayer Shawls. This has led me on an exploration of handmade cloth and its role as a ritual object in traditions across time and space. We will look at the ancient tradition of Jewish prayer shawls, which are first described in the Jewish Bible, and I will share how its traditions have inspired my contemporary multi-shaft handwoven interpretations. We’ll see in detail how different each one can be, using color, fiber, and pattern to tell beautiful individual stories about the wearers.
Sarah Saulson begain weaving as a child in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and has pursued fiber arts as her full-time profession for more than three decades. She attended art school at Syracuse University and received an undergraduate degree in Anthropology from Wellesley College. This has fueled her interest in ethnic textiles and processes and has resulted in the privilege of working with and supporting contemporary weavers in Ghana, Guatemala, and India.
Teaching in a variety of contexts has become an important part of her weaving life. In addition to working with adult learners throughout the country and children in local schools, she taught weaving and textiles for many years at Syracuse University. Today she teaches at the Rhode Island Weaving Center, a teaching and making space as well as teaching workshops for guilds and conferences. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island, and her fiber arts practice is based at Hope Artiste Village, a historic building originally housing a weaving mill. Her students of all ages continue to energize and educate her.
Learn more about Sarah at www.sarahsaulson.com
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