These limited-edition fine craft table settings and screen hanging are made entirely by hand from harvest of wild kudzu vines to preparation of fibers, and weaving on a handloom following the ancient process that is over 5,000 years old. Wild kudzu fabric is renewable, sustainable, biodegradable, and beneficial to our natural environment and the regional ecology. Each set is numbered, signed, and dated, bearing the mark of time-honored fine craft, and the way of living close to nature, blessed by the rich natural beauty of the Southern USA. In addition to kudzu fibers, these table settings are woven combining hand-processed flax and organically-grown, hand-processed, natural-dyed silk fibers. Additionally, charger is hand-woven kudzu fabric coated with hand-applications of natural urushi, a time-honored natural lacquer, treasured in Japan and China since Ancient times.
Kudzu vine is one of the oldest fibers known to humans. The oldest extant kudzu fabric, dated 3,400 BCE, found from an Archeological Neolithic site is housed in the Nanjing Museum, China. My kudzu table setting design updates the ancient craft, reviving the lost-handwork of the Neolith Period into our Post-modern life.
New addition, on-going works in Kudzu are hand-made kudzu paper and mixed media sculpture. Some are exploration of kudzu fiber as 3D form, and others sumi ink on hand-made kudzu paper.
