Trending Threads

“At its core Twitter is public messaging. A simple way to say something, to anyone, that everyone in the world can see instantly.” - Mr. Dorsey, Twitter CEO. 

Trending Threads originated in a low tech handmade world - which is the world where I come from. The art work is a giant board made from wood that has been built and sanded by hand with pegs allowing for 140 characters, the maximum size of a single tweet on Twitter. Approximately three hundred handmade letter/character tiles were created, each unique and colorful made with felt and hand stitching on wool and mounted on wood blocks. These tiles can then be attached to the board’s pegs, like a giant toddler toy. Viewers are invited to play with the giant board and letters by spelling out words and thoughts and then posting a ‘Tweet’ on this artistic social media.

At the heart of this installation is the element of play. The impulse to play has become a biological drive, as long as we are fed and safe, people play spontaneously. Imagine walking into this gallery with your best friend and discovering that you can interact and play with this piece. As you experiment and move the letters around, you discover there are magnets that grip each letter into place. So you play with it some more. Ideas form and so do words and thoughts that can be easily expressed. The parameters of this piece are simple, but the options are endless.

Trending Threads compares and contrasts the immediacy and impulsiveness of a tweet to the thoughtful interactions with one another. Show attendees will be able to move 4”x 4” character blocks around on a modular, handcrafted board in order to spell out their own giant fiber tweet. They will be encouraged to snap a photo and post it to social media with #trendingthreads. As the first resident fiber artist of the Abington Art Center, it took Teresa over a year to hand embroider each letter and character, a strong contrast to the fast-paced world of tweeting. 

Notes Teresa, “The project was a huge undertaking and a rigorous process, but I loved it and I can’t think of anything I’d rather do than to spend time embroidering and working on my art. I embroidered for eight, ten, sometimes twelve hour days and on average I would complete about three letters a day.

2016-2017 Resident Artist at ABINGton art center's first fiber studio

Teresa was the 2016/2017 Resident Artist for the first Fiber Studio at the Abington Art Center. She teaches workshops and classes throughout the year.

Teresa has taught various fiber art classes at Abington Art Center  such as 'French Knots and Beyond.'  People were taught to create a variety of imagery by drawing with embroidery thread and making french knots, satin and running stitches. Fundamental design ideas and embroidery techniques were used to make your own organic shapes and images mounted on fabric.