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Woven Records, USA

This Community Partner Response Project with the Dallas Museum of Art's Center for Creative Connections worked with over 500 community members to create small elements for this interactive installation.

Woven Records was exhibited at the Center for Creative Connections, Dallas Museum of Art (2009-2010).

Lesli Robertson Studio is a textile consultancy and studio focused on handmade, global textiles. With a 20+ year background in textile design, education, and program curation, I work collaboratively on multi-disciplinary projects.

ON THE LOOMAs an experimental weaver and handwoven loom specialist, I explore traditional and non-traditional materials for new product design collections.  As an interdisciplinary artist and community engagement specialist, I collaborate with weavers and community members to manipulate and build looms for functional, sculptural, and innovative applications.

COMMUNITY AND CURATORIAL PROJECTS

FROM THE STUDIO

(Detail) Re-position, concrete and graphite

Re-collection II. Aluminum, silver, handwoven cotton, natural dye (cinnamon) 74” x 27” x 5”

(Detail) Re-Collection II. Aluminum, silver, handwoven cotton, natural dye (cinnamon) 74” x 27” x 5”

(Detail) 14 layers of. Handwoven cotton, concrete, silver. Size 35.5" x 3.25" x 10.25"

Untitled, indigo dyed cotton, concrete, fine silver leaf, oak

(Detail) Untitled, indigo dyed cotton, concrete, fine silver leaf, oak

Held in knots, Bronze, needles, indigo dyed cotton

(Details) Held in knots, Bronze, needles, indigo dyed cotton

(Detail) Re-Collection. Handwoven cotton, aluminum 49” x 23” x 1.5”

(Detail) Sheathed, concrete and silver leaf

Undone, indigo dyed cotton, concrete, fine silver leaf

(Detail) Undone, indigo dyed cotton, concrete, fine silver leaf

"...weird robot movies." Embroidery and handwoven cloth. Cloth was woven at the Dallas Museum of Art in conjunction with community response project, “Woven Records” 47” x 53” x 5.5”

Remnant Series, This series of 30 boxed works becomes the resting place for remains from my studio. Mixed media objects in aspen boxes, dimensions vary.

(Detail) Remnant Series, This series of 30 boxed works becomes the resting place for remains from my studio. Mixed media objects in aspen boxes, dimensions vary.

59 Pieces. A handwoven fragment was slowly cut apart to create this work. Its disappearance is documented in the work. Concrete, handwoven cotton, dimensions vary.

WHO I WORK WITHFrom workshops, to small fellowships, to larger consultancies, I work with a range of projects with national and international organizations.

Since 2005, I have partnered with artists, researchers, and activitists to support the cultural textiles of Uganda. Learn more below. 
Visit BARKCLOTH PROJECTS to see our past work. 
Visit MEKEKA DESIGNS to learn about our bespoke textile studio.

ABOUT

I am an interdisciplinary artist, textile consultant, and project developer who partners with local and international organisations on programs spanning curation, education, and textile design. With a background in higher education, I have worked at the intersection of cultural arts and contemporary design practice for over 20 years. 
More recently she worked on a set of projects supported by USAID, the Smithsonian Institution, and Fulbright Specialist program, which took her to locations as diverse as Kuwait, Armenia, Uganda, Kazakhstan, and Ghana.
 
My national and international project based work includes the development of community engagement events, curatorial projects, professional trainings, product design, exhibition design, and hands-on workshops. As a former Principal Lecturer of Fibers at the University of North Texas, I worked over a decade developing curricula and teaching textile based courses while leading innovative initiatives including the development of the UNT Natural Dye Garden and partnerships 
with local museums and arts organizations.
 
I have shown my artwork nationally and internationally in addition to lecturing at numerous international events and conferences including the Qurain Cultural Festival in Kuwait, European League of the Institute of the Arts, Textile Society of America Symposia, and Creative Dundee. 
 
Currently she works as Outreach Director for Around the World in 80 Fabrics and consultant for the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.
In the artistic field, she puts all of her creative energy into Mekeka Designs, where she works with craft specialists in Uganda to create beautiful loom woven and 
plaited textiles from indigenous fibres including her passion - 
lubugo Ugandan barkcloth. 
 