Salt Textiles
:MY WORK IS A MEDITATION ON CRAFT; EXPLORING NATURAL MATERIALS, PLANT DYES AND THE INTERSECTION BETWEEN MAKING AND RITUAL:
AUGUST’s artists discussion with NATURAL DYER : JORDAN MAXWELL :
Welcome to this space Jordan, I am grateful to you for being here & taking this time to share your work with us!
I would love for you to talk with us a bit about the work you do & the story behind why you decided to start up SALT textiles.
Thank you kindly for having me and receiving my words. My work is a meditation on craft; exploring natural materials, plant dyes and the intersection between making and ritual. The latter is a more recent introduction to SALT, it kept surfacing as an important direction for me. Taking a step back from creating more 'stuff' and diving deeper into intentional earth-centered creative practice.
For a short history - I started SALT in 2017, it really came from a very organic place. I was running a craft evening at my home on Sunday wanting to gather a community and share skills. SALT sprouted from here, I started sharing more naturally dyed textiles and people showed an interest in my craft, it spiraled from there.
This may sound a bit 'woo-woo' but the name SALT came to me in a dream. I'd been thinking about having the project as something different from my name and this arrived feeling right. I've always loved the expression 'Salt of the Earth' and in many ways I feel SALT is a shortening of this.
Its so beautiful to create these meditative moments within our chosen crafts, as a time to let our minds wander & to be free to create & release.
May you explain to us what the word ‘ritual’ means to you & how your sacred textile objects come together within your new realm of creating ceremonial space.
Ritual to me means an intentional honouring through ceremony. I don't believe that ritual has to always be a grand gesture either, many of my rituals are very simple and ones I do daily. I'm sure to many they may seem quite boring or small, but they ground me in space and remind me of the everyday sacredness.
My tea and altar mats are designed and created to be used ceremonially. Either for sacred objects, tea ceremony or as a reminder to slow down - textiles have a beautiful way of doing this. I believe it's the softness of the fibre and the memory of another's hands.
Image captured by Sinden Studios
I completely agree with you Jordan, I believe the simple act of sitting with your morning coffee or tea to be a ritual, a simple moment which can hold so much pleasure, in a way which can bring you back to the present & for many of us helps us to slowly & gently allow our bodies time to greet a new day.
Are there new sacred textiles which are coming into creation for you at the moment along with tea & altar mats?
Beautifully put.
Yes, I've recently been on a residency at Maison Salvadore in South-West France. Here I have been working on birthing new work for SALT, it's been brewing for a while but I'd yet to have the time and space for the pure creativity over requirement.
During my residency I worked with foraged dyes from the local area (flowering nettle, alder and willow) creating ***a series of smocks, wall hangings and fabric braids; inspired by the history and practice of intentional braiding. There is something very ancestral - for me - about braiding. I remember learning how to plait my hair with my grandmother as a child, braiding a friend's hair or crafting weaving at women's gatherings; there is something deeply maternal and comforting about this simple act.
Like you, it comes more naturally to me to launch smaller collections influenced by my personal pathways, so there won't be any large collections coming but I will be listing some door/wall hangings, sets of the braids and the hanging smocks (once I feel ready to part with them).
Maison Salvadore seems like the perfect place to truly clear the mind & be in the moment, connecting to the creative self.
I love that you have been able to connect with the local land & using what is growing abundantly around you. It's such a blessing to be able to create with our landscape & use what mother earth created to express ourselves.
I am very much looking forward to seeing all your new ideas you brought to life from your time at Maison Salvadore, especially your braiding Jordan & how that work brought out your stories from childhood & took you back to that time. I look forward to feeling the potent energy in these works.
There are so many! I'd love to pick up weaving again, I started a couple of years ago and am yet to dig my loom out since moving home. I also hope to learn basket making and other ancestral skills - I really want to make my own drum! My life's goal is to become a wise old grandmother in the woods.
Oh me to Jordan, to live in a little earth house surrounded by nature making herbal potions & working with many crafts, a dream!
Thank you so much Jordan, for sharing your time with me & giving all of us a little insight into your sacred crafts, it has been so beautiful to move through our discussion at a slow, thoughtful pace & to be able to connect this way. The way you work with the earth & the plants is so inspiring.
I look forward to following your work & seeing how the ancestral skills you learn on the way inspire you.
You are so welcome, thank you for asking me and inspiring deep thought. I look forward to seeing your new creations too! With lots of Love xx
You can join Jordan in her upcoming 4 week ritual & creativity group in September, a chance to immerse yourself in a collective journey through the craft of meditation & ritual.