For the 2025 Creative Catalysts Exhibition, I collaborated with artist and local dyer Korie Ellis of Falling Off Trees. Korie dyed silk and cotton fabric using dye sourced from plants local to New Bedford, Massachusetts. We created three textiles: “South End,” “North End,” and “West End” made from dyes with plants found in abundance in each region.

After the material was dyed, I cut shapes from the fabric that reminded me of the area the dyes were sourced from. The South End included predominantly organic shapes roughly looking like the peninsula. The West End material was from Buttonwood Park and I was inspired by the mixture or organic and man made shapes found within Buttonwood (the carousel and trees, the parking lot and the curved paths). The North End dye was created from plants found around the asphalt of the Price Rite Parking Lot and I was inspired by the squares and rectangles found in man made spaces, while bits of nature are peeking out from the cracks. I appliquéd each of these shapes onto silk fabric and they were displayed with a color key created by Korie.