Evan Cloeren (they/he/xe) is a junior fibers major from Tatamy, Pennsylvania. Despite growing up landlocked, his family often took him to the beach, kickstarting a lifelong fascination with the ocean. They return to this passion for inspiration and translate it into knitwear, soft sculpture, and experimental dye practices.
Bio-Nautica Synthesis
Collection Notes
“With every drop you drink, every breath you take, you’re connected to the sea.” —Sylvia Earle
Water is all around us, in us, and always connected to us. It fuels our bodies, fuels the food we eat, cleanses us and our clothes of the grime from our day to day lives, and provides for us again and again at our every whim. Water is both calm and violent, soft and hard, the past and the future, constantly moving despite its insurmountable vastness, always giving, but taking just as much in return.
Bio-Nautica Synthesis explores humanity’s relationship with water and these many dichotomies it represents. Our oceans house some of the most vibrant, colorful, and biodiverse ecosystems on the planet, yet they are at risk due to plastic and chemical waste, especially at the hands of international garment industries. Despite this, life has flourished in the depths of our oceans for millenia, and I choose to believe it will continue to do so long after the age of humanity has passed. Each material, color, and silhouette choice is further exploration of water’s immeasurable importance, and the power it holds, both metaphorically and physically, over our lives.