Found Objects

The use of found objects is an art in interior design.

I developed a keener sense of this in my travels all over the world collecting pieces that became art with a post pedestal, or some kind of bracket that allowed for mounting on the wall.

My favorite found objects to use in interior spaces as art are fragments of clothing with special embroidery, or attachements to them. I first began collecting clothing fragments when I met some members of the Hill Tribes in Northern Thailand. They are persecuted in Burma and cross over into Chiang Mai for opportunities to raise their children in peace. As their lives change, they tear off cuffs from shirts, and collars from jackets. These textiles are heavily embroidered with cotton thread in tiny patterns that are more geometric than most textiles that I collect. I carried these fragments wrapped in tissue paper in my luggage. I would visit my framer and "float " the textiles on dull black matte board, with black wooden frames. The textiles would oftentimes be stitched on to the board to keep them in place. Sometimes three cuffs would be displayed in a row, if the embroidery or base cloth relate to one another. With silver buttons, bugles and hand made ornamentation, these textiles are wonderful to look at framed.

I also collected many garment fragments in Cambodia and China. Both have many "tribes" of people that are disappearing, and their familes are more than willing to sell off pieces of their old clothing. The tribal way of life is being challenged by factory jobs, loss of farming communes, and lack of interest in rural life. The manufacturing in both of these countries has increased so dramatically, that the "old way of life" is not only easily disposed of, but mostly forgotten. The small "local" markets in many areas of these countries are full of textiles that I gathered gladly and transported back to my framers in Michigan, now Ohio. The textiles make lovely art pieces when framed in the way I described. It is art, and it is nice to be involved in perserving.