San Fratello
CV
Works
Weaving on the floor loom presents me with a site for practicing self care. slowly building lines, horizontally taking care, and tying easy little knots. As I move materials through my hands I can investigate curiously through the act of touch. Gentle movements bring me a sense of closeness with myself, as I pursue haptic meditation, journaling and documentation a little bit each day with fibers. This work was built in the studio after days of working with youth at the Textile Arts Center summer camp where we played, laughed, and created.
38 x 80 inches
Mesh, Paracord, Wool roving, Clay, Silver Tinsel, Various colored yarns
Through tactile experimentation, performance, and sculptural installation this thesis re-considers accessibility and societal notions of normative bodies. This railing, a mobile installation and performance piece, was created using basketry weaving, sewing, upholstery and frame building. Symbolizing the universal need for care and support structures, the piece communicates the possibilities of variation present in care work, access, and disability discourses. Park MacArthur and Constantina Zavitsanos inspired this thesis in their curation of For Dear Life, an exhibition on Art, Medicine, and Disability, which challenges the politics of the singular able body. As people interact with the work, they are invited to reflect on personal needs, care, and the ways all bodies depend on accessibility.
4 x 5 ft
Wood, Upcycled leather and fabric scraps, Polyester stuffing, Synthetic chord, Coiling chord, Label maker, Braille stickers
This work is about the dialogue we have with ourselves and with others around pain, physical, and non physical wounds, and grief. The reference to a band-aid points to the small ailments one might have, the experience of a child requesting a band-aid, the discomfort in choosing the correctly sized band-aid, and the accepted ways we learn to ask for support.
Patches of grief, bandaging little memories that hurt, and decorating things with color for the sake of little joys. I intend to make people consider small moments we all depend on. A band-aid or something band-aid like for a quick, subtle, or mundane recovery. objects to honor work and healing.
This installation was made for Utopia or Bust, a show organized by Isabella Garcia and Logan Normandeau.
This piece was made from the memories of a burn injury to my inner thigh from August of 2022. The emotional and physical pain from the burn translates into the sensory discomfort inflicted on the wearer while trying on the guard. The front of the panel remains structurally neat, while the back side has many protruding small objects and exposed reed that scratches the wearer.
6 x 27 in
Reed, Neon yellow lanyard, Pink embroidery thread, Metal snap, Mesh and leather micro scraps, Green and tan water bottle plastics, Cut up placemat scraps, Lighter top, Keychain fob
In collaboration with Niko Cvitanic, this short film documents garments + woven objects by 2ndnatsafrat for their capsule collection of spring 2024.
In collaboration with Ellie Lacase and County Hardware, this short film documents a series of soft sculptures made for exterior displays at the Cornerstone Arts Building 2025 CC Student Fashion show.
This collection/performance was a conceptual work on meditation, tactile knowledge, memory, feeling, and togetherness. I invited an audience of 350 people to interact with small envelopes passed out upon entry, each prepared with a collection of fiber materials inside. The words I read guided the audience gently, through a series of instructed movements, and intentional phrases, as we made space for everybody in the room to explore an alternative idea of a collection which de-centered vision, and viewing, and re-centered togetherness, the body, and the senses. The collective act of performing together, became a being together, as it came between other designers showing clothing in the typical fashion show format. I would like to consider the possible intimacy of a fashion show.
My practice of making developed from the joy I found collecting fabrics, upcycling, trading, and mending clothing. 2ndnatsanfrat, my sustainable fashion business (2020-2024) has shifted into a continued exploration of textile and fiber pieces which offer reflections on the body. I witness texture, color, and material all as means to create languages of care, movement, and intimacy.
The images feature garments I crafted between 2023-2025.