De Jana Sveistrup

Through an embodied practice of crochet, this research explores how fibre can express the fluidity and care that are core to queer Tagata Moana identities. Through the lens of queer indigenous theory and oceanic paradigms, wool is crocheted, blocked, and printed onto to adorn vessels and become vessels of comfort. I utilise the malleability of yarn to create freeform panels that are consistently transformed. Tensions are tightened and expanded. A method of ravelry is done by crocheting, unravelling, and then crocheting again as the recursive act of doing and undoing causes the wool to change its form, becoming a type of queer body. Crochet becomes an active archive to honour my late grandmother's teachings on being present as well as documenting the endurance of queer existence. The materiality of wool and yarn acts as a vessel for carrying a knowledge of care that is archived within the fibres. The self has no bounds or limitations; it is continually remade and expansive.