Rootlet | Christi York | Sept 10 - Oct 5, 2024

For York, the material is the muse. Hand harvesting her own plant materials for sculptural basketry, she spends many hours processing wild plants into a more refined state; invaluable time spent learning her materials by feel—a kind of moving meditation that informs the work ahead.

Never ending curiosity drives her fascination with plants—experimental, process driven, daily studio practice often unearths unexpected results. Switching between three-and two-dimensional work, she is always asking “what if?” in an attempt to combine ancient techniques with a modern aesthetic.

With a background in both graphic and jewelry design, York's contemporary craft work naturally flows towards mixed media. Vintage textiles, wild crafted inks, botanical contact printing with real leaves or flowers, and hand stitching all make their way into her mixed media collages. As the world around us becomes increasingly inundated with content created by generative AI, she invites people to pause and remember the slow process of crafting hand made things.

In Rootlet, artist Christi York chose some of the less obvious materials that can be used in sculptural basketry—bark, roots and winter-bare twigs. York has long been struck by the vulnerability inherent in the act of stripping tree bark. Having high respect for plant-life raises the action into the realm of relatable intimacy, peeling back a protective layer, exposing what’s inside, and then stitching it all back up. Digging for roots can be a similar experience. Bringing what’s been long buried into the light, tenderly washing, drying, and storing for future use. For York, harvesting and preparing plant materials is a sense memory, a ritualistic throwback to earlier times. The relationship forged in these long hours of processing raw material is the first step in the creative journey for her. The material is the muse. 

“As I’m working, I think about my maternal grandmother and her affinity for cross stitch kits. What would she think about working with bark, roots and leaves? Would she be horrified, or would she delight in the messy freedom?”

Flirting with textile art, York takes inspiration partly from the “visible mending” movement and the history of domestic handicrafts. Torn tree bark is salvaged and stitched back together. Some pieces incorporate hand-felted local wool and flax, alongside unsystematic embroidery stitches in a reference and contrast to her grandmother’s tidy work. The material has memory—often drying under tension and straining at the stitches. Metaphors abound.