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Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Brooklyn Botanical Garden: Knit, Purl, Sow Exhibit

Tiger Lily by Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Tiger Lily, a photo by Brooklyn Botanic Garden on Flickr.
One of the great things about living close to a major metropolis- even for someone who is admittedly, NOT a city girl- is that there is so much inspiration to be had, if you only make the effort to go find it. Case in point- Brooklyn is well on the other side of Manhattan from myself, and a bit of a bother to get in and out of, but for this exhibit we were going to have to make the effort.

Brooklyn Botanical Garden was hosting Knit, Purl, Sow- an exhibit of larger than life knitted pieces representing botanical elements worked by Tatyana Yanishevsky, Ruth Marshall, and Santiago Venegas.

A giant tiger lily hangs suspended from the ceiling. Hidden wires give structure to the fabric petals with cables and bobbles, textured stamen protrude through a chorus of halos stretched with openwork. Water lilies opened with blocking pins cascade across a wall panel and a five foot peace lily gives pause to the idea that 'fun fur' might actually be a legit fiber.

Although the exhibit was only two dozen pieces or so, it was inspiring to see such sculptural knitting. I know a lot of times we designers say we are 'inspired by nature'... this exhibit takes that idea to a whole new level.

Tomorrow, Jan 22nd is the last day of the exhibit, so take note if you are in the area!

Lotus by Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Lotus, a photo by Brooklyn Botanic Garden on Flickr.

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