| PORTFOLIO design familiar | |
| biomaker familiar leftovers meduza music box shelf support swanchair |
Refugees suffer war damage and its trauma as well as difficulties of living in a refugee camp. Aside from providing survival there is little to comfort their anxiety and stress. They need something to wrap around themselves and create a comfort zone. Textiles accompanied man since prehistoric times as a layer standing between mab and harsh reality. With advances in dyeing, textiles started to create a narrative, a magical world of shapes and patterns that were not only beautiful, but also meaningful. They carried both information and emotions. Most of Sunbrella fabrics are made of acrylic. It's a very versatile textile, with use ranging from clothing, through upholstery to awning, it is both strong and soft. It resembles wool, but dries quicker, it is resistant to moth, oil, chemicals and sunlight degradation. Is it possible to imagine a fabric that would situate itself in-between those categories? A familiar spirit (or simply familiar) is personal totem, a spirit companion, a guardian. Familiars were believed to be supernatural entities that assisted witches. Recently we see the rise of tattoos as spiritual marks. Is it possible to revive our emotional connection with fabrics and make it part of our personal and social identity again? The Familiar is a new way of looking at fabric, both functional and emotional. It is based on a functional model of a tarp, roughly 10 by 10 feet, with reinforced holes on the perimeter, but unlike it beautiful and "friendly". It is created using scraps of patterned acrylic fabric and grows together with its owner, whose story and identity becomes encoded in the fabric. It can be used as improvised shade, a rug, a blanket or a cloak. Many pieces can be used in larger structures making a direct image of a community united. Familiar is a lifelong companion that shelters and comforts.      |