COTTON
Lodz in Poland was once famous in the textile industry, and textiles symbolized the connections and relationships between the city, nation, and generations. Poland is located to the northwest of Ukraine and borders Belarus to the east. Lodz is situated in a region that has been affected by the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War that when the artist was participating in the International Triennial of Tapestry in Lodz in 2022. For a long time, the two countries have constantly had conflicts, and now, lives and cultures have been ruthlessly destroyed by the war. The work constructs the patterns of a Dirt Carpet, with elements inspired by various weaving machines from museum collections, that are also combined with the shapes of spool, missile, spinning wheel, and metal framework. These images echo each other, such as border gates and textile structures, soft cotton fibers and smoke from fires, and metal structures and tank traps. At the center of the piece, the bricks and ashes are collected from a building at the heart of Izium destroyed the Russian invasion. The concept of the Dirt Carpet itself expresses the respect for life in multiple ways, echoing the interweaving of warp and weft in textile structures. Despite the lack of a direct connection between fabric and war, cultural and emotional aspects have been destroyed by the war today; however, the relation between them is counterproductive. The work proposes through the soil quality the idea that we should make culture, not war.