Close Knit

Anthony D Kelly | Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland

Close Knit by Anthony D Kelly draws upon Vermont’s rich history of sheep herding and textile making. He combines Luther Webster’s illustration with advertisements from the 1970s—RCA Electronics and Clairol Herbal Essence Rinse—and a photograph of the sky by M. Henry from an 1881 magazine of photography. Kelly sets these elements against a stock image of a quilt as a way to make a visual connection between fields and textiles. The artist wrote: “Textiles are deeply interwoven with community care practices in rural communities across the world. The farming of sheep and other animals for their wools provides livelihoods for families, goods for transport and trade. In the past these trade routes fostered community connections and information sharing amongst towns and settlements within the regions that they existed. In this way, opportunities arose for neighbors to interact and come to know one another. “On the more interpersonal level, individuals with particular skills in textiles and the fiber arts can weave and knit together clothing and household items like blankets, rugs and quilts. These are practical offerings of comfort, warmth and care to friends and family members. “Alongside the creation of physical items, there is the deep social good which exists in the sharing of traditional skills. Individuals who gather together in knitting circles or other forms of crafting workshop experience the privilege of working and creating with one another, knitting their communities more closely together. “The creation of patchwork quilts in particular have become a tradition which represents stability, community care, and have even served as a unique form of historical documentation, with carefully crafted panels carrying visual information about personal, familial and community stories and events down through generations.”