Yael Bloom
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Moon Knot
2020
quilting, lace knitting
24" x 24"
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Moon Knot 04
2021
bobbin lace, knitted lace, embroidery
4" x 16"
Statement
It takes, on average, an hour to create a square inch of lace. The motivation to sit and make lace is not so dissimilar from the motivation to play pretend. When children make believe, they suspend what is practical or useful and engage in something for the visceral pleasure of it. I know that a machine can manufacture textiles much faster than I can cross and twist some threads. I simply enjoy it so I do the thing anyway.
As I work towards my teaching degree, I am drawn to children’s storytelling and narratives that bend the rules of reality. I also have a deep love for labor-intensive, small-scale processes. Fiber traditions such as lacemaking and knitting rely on patience and pacing outside the usual framework of modern life. Imaginative stories also give my mind a chance to escape from the rigid structure of daily responsibilities. As someone who struggled a lot in my childhood to ‘keep up’ in the classroom, fiber traditions and a good story have always offered me relief from the pressure for efficiency and rationality.