Kevina Jo Smith / Rituals For A Better Day

Artist Kevina Jo Smith wove her organic silk into Rituals For A Better Day.

Tartan Mind Mend: Tell us about what you do that defines being a creative to you.
Kevin Jo Smith: For me, being creative is more than being an 'artist' or a 'maker'. I view creative people as someone who lives mindfully and artfully in all areas of life, for example how you shop, how you garden, how you dress, how you cook, how you interact with people, all of these things can be done creatively and thoughtfully.

TT: What creative pursuits, little rituals, or things to look forward to, helped you to keep going during lockdown?
KJS: Dancing with my daughter is how I shook off a hideous mood. Gardening/weeding is how I found a little bit of headspace. Cooking for friends to help provide a tiny bit of stress relief made me feel useful. Wine and fire buckets burning garden waste helped me clear my head and made me feel productive ahead of bushfire season. Finishing half finished commissions that I never had time to focus on, helped to clear space and 'to do lists'.

TMM: Tell us your idea about your re-imagined Tartan piece and what inspired you.
KJS: My immediate inclination was to reconstruct the pieces of fabric I had been sent to work with, back into a wearable piece. I have made loads of 'wearable artworks' and costumes over the years and its so much fun. BUT I decided to take a look at some pieces I had sitting around in various states of unfinish, to continue with my lockdown goals of finishing and shifting things. I chose to focus on a small organic weave on a cedar frame. Weaving, as an action, is a type of ritual so I wanted to create an artwork as a symbol of this time where we are all hoping and praying and working together for a better day.

TMM: How has the lockdown affected your creative process?
KJS: I gave birth in late 2018, so my creative process had recently shifted dramatically, lockdown for me felt like a continuum to this very abrupt change in life. So I guess I mostly rolled with it, I have been constantly adjusting and reconfiguring how and what I am communicating as an artist. Of course I had disappointments and cancellations, but also opportunities arose.

TMM: When the world opens back up, what is the first thing you would love to do?
KJS: Probably re-book my cancelled flight and plans from April 2020, to go foraging in the English countryside for 3 months. A very dear friend I met in Panama on an Artist Residency, had invited me to come learn and work with her family foraging business in the UK. I could think of nothing more inspiring and fulfilling than teaching my daughter how to forage for food right now.

TMM: You live up in the blue mountains which can be a little more isolating in times like these. How did you manage to create community with others during lockdown?
KJS: I have a few 'communities' up here, with a little crossover, firstly the artist community because I have lived and worked here as an artist for a decade, the 'backyard growers' community and now I also have a beautiful community of like minded Mamas and Papas. Across these three very caring and giving communities, my daughter and I were beautifully connected and I am very grateful. I took to very regularly making simple things like huge pots of vegetable stock so we could go on 'door drop adventures' leaving little bundles of flowers and nourishing treats to offer a little kindness into peoples day. I never did it with the expectation of receiving in return, but often on a day we were really struggling, there would be a little text or door knock to notify me of treats out front. Tbh I think a lot of people will come out of this time, more connected to like minded people. I have found a deep connection with people that I am so grateful to have in my future, raising a child.

TMM: A lot of your artistic work comments on our changing climate and the way we damage our surroundings, and you use upcycled materials in your work, or found materials from the earth and our oceans. What brought you into this kind of activism and what is the most important thing you feel like we should do to protect our earth and her oceans?
KJS: It is impossible for me to pinpoint exactly when or what 'switched on' in my consciousness, I remember always appreciating natural fabrics, linens, hemp and silk etc I remember being repulsed by synthetic fabrics, fake furs, microfiber blankets etc. I also stopped eating meat at a very young age, again just did not enjoy it, nobody was telling me not to, it was purely instinctual. I always really appreciated recycled timbers and antique furniture, and loved the hunt as well. I honestly can't really explain it, but I do remember that as I moved around, studied, met new people etc, feeling very uncomfortable and sad with some peoples 'thoughtless' choices. But also very inspired and awakened by some other people's choices.I was very shy and definitely not confrontational, I wasn't wearing 'Go Vegan' t-shirts or anything like that.... so I think it started subtly but passive aggressively coming out in my artwork. I didn't see myself as an activist, but I felt capable of creating some kind of awareness that wasn't 'in your face' or repelling, but to encourage curiosity and open dialogue. So over many (many!) years and bodies of work I guess it started working. I have had some very tough, but honest, beautiful conversations and outcomes.

In my opinion, two of the most important things we can all do easily and immediately, and also teach our children to do, are to consume more thoughtfully and to grow food and/or support people that do.
So much of what people consume on a daily basis, including food, is done so with very little, if any conscious thought as to where it comes from, whom it affects (directly and indirectly) and where it goes.... which is mostly to landfill and to our waterways and oceans. Making a few conscious choices each day, more and more until you don't have to think about it anymore, is FREE and accessible.
For me, having a child was a giant reset in this way of thinking, I had to (have to) be conscious all over again, because it is a brand new world of needs and choices, a lot of which are truly shocking to me. We need to stop being divisive, blaming each other and hold the Government accountable. Just imagine if they subsidised quality fresh local grown food instead of fast food companies!

Rituals For A Better Day
40cm x 53cm
Mixed Media

Due to the handmade nature of this item any imperfections are considered intentional and are unique characteristics of this one of a kind piece. Over time changes may occur. Handle with care. No exchanges or refunds are available for Tartan Mind Mend charity auction items.

@kevinajosmith