Joanna Rogers
Fade Far Away, 2022
Mercerized cotton and silk 18" x 15'
This is one of ten weavings which comprise The Chorus. The warp and tabby weft are dyed with madder, cochineal and quebracho while the pattern weft is dyed with weld, sappanwood, pomegranate and myrobalan. Each weaving in The Chorus contains a message in morse code which is woven into the structure of the piece using a traditional summer and winter pattern. This piece contains the message Fade Far Away from the poem Ode To A Nightingale by Keats. The phrases I have chosen to weave in this series are all exhortations our endangered species could be silently screaming as they go extinct.
Joanna Rogers
Oh No No No, 2022
Mercerized cotton and wool 17" x 15'
This is one of ten weavings which comprise The Chorus. The warp and tabby weft are dyed with madder, cutch and cochineal while the pattern weft is dyed with sappanwood. Each weaving in The Chorus contains a message in morse code which is woven into the structure of the piece using a traditional summer and winter pattern. This piece contains the message Oh No No No comes from the poem Not Waving But Drowning by Stevie Smith. The phrases I have chosen to weave in this series are all exhortations our endangered species could be silently screaming as they go extinct.
Joanna Rogers
I Will Arise, 2022
Mercerized cotton, silk 16" x 15'
This is one of ten weavings which comprise The Chorus. The warp and tabby weft are dyed with plants from my yard while the pattern weft is dyed in indigo. Each weaving in The Chorus contains a message in morse code which is woven into the structure of the piece using a traditional summer and winter pattern. This piece contains the message I Will Arise from the poem The Lake Isle Of Innisfree by Yeats. The phrases I have chosen to weave in this series are all exhortations our endangered species could be silently screaming as they go extinct.
Joanna Rogers
Ave Atque Vale, 2022
Mercerized cotton 17" x 15'
This is one of ten weavings which comprise The Chorus. Each weaving in The Chorus contains a message in morse code which is woven into the structure of the piece using a traditional summer and winter pattern. This piece contains the messgae Ave Atque Vale (Hail and Farewell) from the poem of the same name by Catullus. The phrases I have chosen to weave in this series are all exhortations our endangered species could be silently screaming as they go extinct.
Joanna Rogers
Our Last Cry, 2022
Mercerized cotton, wool, 17" x 15'
This is one of ten weavings which comprise The Chorus. The warp and tabby weft are dyed in indigo while the pattern weft is dyed with madder, marigolds and sappanwood. Each weaving in The Chorus contains a message in morse code which is woven into the structure of the piece using a traditional summer and winter pattern. This piece contains the messgae Our Last Cry from the last morse code message sent by the Frech navy. The phrases I have chosen to weave in this series are all exhortations our endangered species could be silently screaming as they go extinct.
Joanna Rogers
What Once Was. After Midnight, 2023
Bubble wrap, expiry date tags 30" x 35"
What will be left when the Doomsday Clock strikes midnight? Perhaps a world encased in plastic debris breaking down into ever smaller particles but never disappearing, like a swirling milky way. This piece documents our potential decline using the form of a vintage woman's shift as a shroud of sorts. Time becomes fluid as the past melds with the future.
Joanna Rogers
What Once Was. Flocks, Herds and Schools, 2023
cotton and thread dyed with iron, tannins and indigo, bubble wrap, found feathers, hooves, fish bones. 3 pieces. Each piece "30" x 35"
This piece laments past, and foretells future, extinctions. From the decimation of passenger pigeons to burrowing owls, buffalo to caribou, Atlantic cod to Pacific salmon, these three shifts bear witness to our lost and disappearing species. Each shift carefully shoulders its own burden – remnants of once living creatures – and holds it up to the viewer as a testament to human folly. This triptych comes from a place of vulnerability and was created as a response to the climate crisis. These shifts were styled after a vintage woman’s undergarment, which emphasizes the intimacy and immediacy of the piece.
Joanna Rogers
Boudicca’s War Belt, 2023
Linen dyed with indigo and marigolds, silk dupioni 42" x 20"
Inspired by paleolithic string skirts and Incan quipus, this war belt contains the poem "Ave Atque Vale" by Catullus in both the original Latin (marigold) and in English (indigo) in morse code. The dots and dashes of morse code are represented by small and large knots. Each thread is a letter.
Joanna Rogers
Hippolyta’s War Belt, 2023
Mercerized cotton thread dyed with iron and tannins, canvas painted with cassell earth, vintage velvet ribbon 40" x 20"
Inspired by paleolithic string skirts and Incan quipus, this war belt contains the entire poem "Anthem For Doomed Youth" by Wilfred Owen in morse code. The dots and dashes are represented by small and large knots. Each thread represents a letter in the poem.
Joanna Rogers
What Once Was. The Apocalypse Is Now, 2023
Cotton and thread dyed with rust and tannins, bubble wrap, found objects 7 pieces. Each 30" x 35"
What Once Was: The Apocalypse is Now consists of pieces fashioned after a vintage woman’s shift all of which comment on the global destruction of species and habitats in our rush to harvest the remaining natural resources, whatever the cost. The pieces have been dyed and overdyed in iron and tannin vats to create a richly layered effect resembling garments that have been recently unearthed from a future archaeological dig. These are adorned with organic found objects which could be remnants of a life once lived; driftwood, stones, bones, snake skins, feathers, leaves, hooves, antlers.