Regarding creativity and the art of storytelling through our practice, @Maverikartz shared this with me via Twitter: 

“Textiles can accrue meaning and significance, acting as triggers to people, places and times, but all too often they lie in limbo, unused, too precious to throw away but in need of a new purpose.” Zoe Hillyard 

Fragments: Memories of my past. The interweaving of physical emotions. Exploring the narrative of textiles in a digital age. Memories of the past and dreams of the future. An exploration into the physical manifestations of this through Afrikan textiles.

I have often wondered about the art of textiles and the conversations therein. The making of African materials is not an insular activity it is collective. Within African societies the art of fabric making is a communal and labour intensive activity. 

My interest in creating the collages stems from identity and looks at ways in which stories can be told and conservation had. Much in the way Zoe Hillyard describes an opportunity to rediscover and celebrate…. reviving a worn-out out favourite item or creating something new.

“Mother Tongue…Who says it has to be English!”

There is a richness that speaking in your Mother tongue brings….it binds and strengthens you to your roots, culture and heritage. A means of preservation a means of continuity, passing on why would anyone want to lose that?

A graphic designer by trade, as a textile designer, Flo now mixes oration, and communication within her work.

They are pieces constructed from snippets of conversation through oral history, serving to maintain a rich cultural identity and heritage.

Flo’s current work focuses on the playful relationship between language, proverbs and the textiles practice.