Books & Publications

IN THIS ISSUE

Indigenous fashion’s powerful stories of change and resilience

Crafting for community and connection

Future-facing fashion with KITX

The Corner Store Network preserving food security

Fighting for inclusive fashion and body positivity 

How to talk about climate change to make a difference 

A new world of kind and considered travel 

How our boundaries are blurring in the digital age

Sustainable jewellery with a wild, nostalgic heart

The nuanced shades of natural makeup 

Naomi Hobson’s art celebrates life and connection to Country 

Towards a new, circular, economy

Navigating the world of certifications and symbols

How to clean for a chemical-free home

The power of flowers, according to science

Sayraphim was interviewed about their Guerrilla Kindness work in this issue.

Rise & Resist takes a wild trip through the new activism sweeping the world. The political march is back in a big way, as communities rally to build movements for environmental and social justice. But today's context calls for increasingly creative strategies to make our voices heard. Crossing the globe, Clare Press meets passionate change-makers who believe in the power of the positive. From eco warriors and zero wasters to knitting nannas, introvert craftivists to intersectional feminists, they're all up for a revolution of sorts. Are you? Join Press as she tracks the formation of a new counterculture, united by a grand purpose: to rethink how we live today to build a more sustainable tomorrow.

Sayraphim is one of the interviewed artists in this book.

Strange Material explores the relationship between handmade textiles and storytelling.

Through text, the act of weaving a tale or dropping a thread takes on new meaning for those who previously have seen textiles—quilts, blankets, articles of clothing, and more—only as functional objects. This book showcases crafters who take storytelling off the page and into the mediums of batik, stitching, dyeing, fabric painting, knitting, crochet, and weaving, creating objects that bear their messages proudly, from personal memoir and cultural fables to pictorial histories and wearable fictions.

Full-color throughout, the book includes chapters on various aspects of textile storytelling, from "Textiles of Protest, Politics, and Power" to "The Fabric of Remembrance"; it also includes specific projects, such as the well-known and profoundly moving Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, as well as poetry mittens, button blankets, and stitched travel diaries. Offbeat, poetic, and subversive, Strange Material will inspire readers to re-imagine the possibilities of creating through needle and fabric.

Sayraphim is one of the featured artists in this book.

Craftivism is a worldwide movement that operates at the intersection of craft and activism; Craftivism the book is full of inspiration for crafters who want to create works that add to the greater good. In these essays, interviews, and images, craftivists from four continents reveal how they are changing the world with their art. Through examples that range from community embroidery projects, stitching in prisons, revolutionary ceramics, AIDS activism, yarn bombing, and crafts that facilitate personal growth, Craftivism provides imaginative examples of how crafters can be creative and altruistic at the same time.

Artists profiled in the book are from the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, and Asia, and their crafts include knitting, crocheting, sewing, textiles, pottery, and ceramics. There's the Brooklyn writer who creates large-scale site-specific knitted installations; the British woman who runs sewing and quilting workshops for community building and therapy; the Indonesian book maker and organizer of a DIY craft center; and the Oxford, UK, cultural theorist and designer dressmaker. A wonderful sense of optimism and possibility pervades the book: the inspiring notion that being crafty can really make the world a better place.

Sayraphim is one of the featured artists in this book.

A collection of interviews with 30 successful professional craftspeople, as well as 60 amateurs. Every interview includes a photo of the subject, plus a peek at their work or their studio. The interviewees include: The Crafty Chica, Kathy Cano-Murillo, Sandi Genovese and "Project Runway" winner Jay McCarroll. 

Bestselling author Vickie Howell puts down her needles to pay tribute to her fellow crafters! Her extraordinary new collection features interviews with 30 successful professional craftspeople, as well as profiles of a diverse group of approximately 60 amateurs. 

Every interview includes a photo of the subject, plus a peek at their work or their studio. This project - a true labor of love - also documents how social networking sites, groups like Stitch 'n' Bitch and alternative sales outlets have helped create a close community of crafters passionate about their work and each other.

Sayraphim is one of the profiled amateur artists in this book.

Maurice Sendak's classic book "Where the Wild Things Are" follows the adventures of Max, a headstrong young boy who leaves home after having a fight with his mother, only to find himself in a mysterious forest bordering a vast sea. Misunderstood and rebellious, Max sets sail to the land of the Wild Things, where mischief reigns. But how do you turn one of the world's favorite children's books into a movie? This film incorporates the most dynamic elements of voice performance, live-action puppetry, and computer animation into a live-action adventure story that captures the magic of the book - and takes it to a new dimension. 

In order to preserve the realistic nature of the film, the Wild Things are not created digitally. Instead, Spike Jonze brings these characters to life in the form of physical suits built by the Jim Henson Company. These creatures, operated by a suit performer, interact with the live actor playing Max on set in front of the camera. After principal photography is finished, CGI is being used to make the creatures completely lifelike and convincing.

As one of the people who worked on the film, Sayraphim is featured in this book.

Artists and crafters have always been recyclers at heart, but in recent decades, it's become not only a thrifty choice but a moral imperative for many.

1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse contains a cutting-edge collection of the most inventive work being made with reused, upcycled, and already existing materials. Exciting and inspiring, the work in this book ranges from clever and humble personal accessories to unique and important large-scale works of art, including paper art, fashion, jewelry, housewares, interiors, and installations.

One of Sayraphim's artworks is featured in this book.

Australienation. Portrait of a Bi-cultural Country draws on three decades of John Ogden’s photographic work in Australia - from 1972 and the beginnings of Aboriginal land rights to the year 2000, the year for reconciliation. The 90 odd duotone prints in the book show another side of Australia not shown in the tourist promotions. With a provocative combination of directness, humanitarianism and humour, the book documents the different tribes, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, and explores themes of alienation, reconciliation and the environment.

Sayraphim is one of the models in this book.

Fitting Into My Skin is a collection of women's writings about sexuality, health and relationships. It's about coming to terms with who you are and who you want to be; about feelings, observations, growing up and life. The book was written, compiled, illustrated, edited, and laid out entirely by women aged between 10 and 27.

Fitting In to My Skin is a compilation of stories, poems, thoughts, cartoons, artwork, comments and reflections, all written in natural, unclinical language, with raw, personal honesty. It offers the view of women from a
cross-section of society, races, sexual preferences and backgrounds. The in
formation is specifically targetted at young women, but makes interesting,
real, unique, powerful reading for anyone.

Sayraphim had a poem published in this book.