Increasing Your Knot Vocabulary

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I am interested in knot-work as one of our oldest, most basic and sophisticated technologies. There is an endless wealth of ideas, associations and symbolism to knots and knotting. Knotting practices are representative of a greater identity, encompassing the beliefs, practices, languages and superstitions of many cultures. I am interested in the knot as a universal language, one that carries residual histories and memory, connecting the past to the present as a living tradition. As a ritualistic process, it is compulsive and repetitive; used to build connections and bridge gaps. Knots can be transcendental, where one type of knot may be found similarly among other knotting practices under a different name; and the names of the knots themselves are each rich with significance and word histories. Each of the burn-studies in this series explore pattern and imagery embedded in traditional knots, through a subverted process combining the addition of stitch and subtraction of burn-out; excavating patterns from the material.