Don't, Amanda Batson, Mixed Media Weaving, 2006

I wanted to speak a little bit about some of my own work. I enjoy weaving with found objects, particularly with paper. I created this weaving in 2006 from a collection of newspaper articles about the War that started as a result of 9-11. I cut strips of the news articles and spun them creating the material for my weft. In weaving, the weft is the material which is drawn under and over parallel warp yarns to create a fabric. I had personal journal entries (written in red pen) that were written by me from September 11th 2001-2006 that I included in the weft. This aspect made my piece even more personal, it really helped me deal with my emotions. I cut out the rectangular pieces you see above and placed red, white, and blue pieces of yarn in the negative space, to represent the World Trade Centers. I stained the weaving in parts with tea to create the feeling of burning and to try to display the anxiety that the nation was feeling at the time.