#textiletrail

Vicky Basdeo - Art Seed Pod 

Textile Trail & Original Skin Ceremony

Vicky Basdeo is producing two events within her Art Seed Pod Project - Textile Trail & Original Skin Ceremony, these events bring together her passion and skills as an eco-printer, textile artist, story teller, singer, and dancer.  Vicky is delighted to be working with other local artists, who will bring their own inspiration and style of storytelling, music and dance to the project. 

Textile Trail - Sat 11th & Sun 12th Nov 2017, 10-4pm 

Original Skin Ceremony -  Sat 16th Dec 2017, sometime between 5-9pm

 PEACE Farm,  60 Settlement Road, Yarra Junction

Textile Trail will be hosted, produced and created by Vicky as part of Yarra Valley Open Studios, for one weekend only she invites you into her art studio, which resides within a beautiful bluestone building that once housed wine, but now hosts wellbeing, arts and crafts workshops and community events at Peace Farm in Yarra Junction.

The Textile Trail will transform this atmospheric space, which will contain a feast for the senses, with glorious smelling bubbling eucalyptus dye pots, beautiful music and a palette of naturally derived colours and materials.

The Textile Trail tells a story of the origins and creation of her work, exploring Vicky's journey of investigating the sources of the textiles and plant based colours she uses in her eco printing process.  The Textile Trail will also offer some simple ways of giving clothing a longer life by sharing some creative upcycling ideas.

As a reflective activity, visitors will be invited to make a 'prayer flag' that they can take with them or if left, will be sewn into a string of prayer flags to commemorate this event, which will be hung in the bluestone buildings.

Vicky Basdeo’s work and her Textile Trail will be on display and available to purchase alongside another local textile artist - Zephlyn Neilsen‘s work on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th November, from 10-4pm, at PEACE Farm 60 Settlement Road, Yarra Junction, a small intentional organic farm community.

www.yarravalleyarts.org.au/yvaopenstudios

www.peacefarm.com.au

As part of the PEACE Farm, Summer Solstice Gathering Vicky is hosting an 'Original Skin Ceremony', all are invited to dress up in their 'Original Skin', MC'd by Murray Goodchild. Vicky will share her 'snake skin story'.  There will also be opportunities for others to share and contribute to the event in the form of story, song, dance or costume.

Vicky shared with us some of the ideas she is exploring through the concept of ‘Original Skin’

“I use this term 'skin' in place of 'clothing'. This isn't about clothing covering up perceived imperfections, it's more about stripping back and revealing our inner uniqueness, by coming back to what is real, much like a snake shedding its skin. This 'original skin' is the way I meet the world and how the world meets me, and how I celebrate and share my authentic expression.”

The gathering will also include a pot-luck dinner and arts & crafts tables where participants can sell or swap handmade/up-cycled arts/crafts or offer a service (in the form of a voucher) on a swap basis. 

For those who would like to be more involved on the day Vicky will be running two 'Skin Sessions' on Friday's 8th & 15th December from 9.30-11.30am in the Bluestone studio. During the ‘Skin Sessions’ Vicky will help you to create your own costumes, your own original skin,  for the Solstice gathering, using the techniques of eco-printing, natural botanical dyeing and up-cycling. 

The essence of these two events is to claim, value and share our gifts and stories, deepening connections to community and the promotion of local economies.

After completing their original skins, participants will be invited to share their own skin story which might include: story, song or dance.

To be held at PEACE Farm at the Summer Solstice Gathering on Saturday 16th December from 5-9pm with a simple ceremony marking this time of the year, the longest day and shortest night.

For more information contact Vicky Basdeo: 0417 985 713

www.peacefarm.com.au

About Vicky

Vicky has studied fashion design at both RMIT and Surrey Institute of Art & Design (UK) and Historical Costume Making. She was then apprenticed with an alchemical Scottish designer and later worked as performer, costume designer and maker for a salsa troupe called 'Salsa Diva'.

She has birthed many creative workshops including: Journey Dance - a 4 year long project run at MLC with year 10 girls combining yoga, art and self development, journeying through the five elements - earth, water, fire, air & ether; Mandala Dreaming - a women's workshop incorporating stories from Clarissa Pinkola Estes book "Women who Run with Wolves", Mandala art, dance and art therapy processes; and co-facilitated a 2 year long series called Bardic Body - a storytelling group fusing yogic postures and Traditional Chinese Medicine knowledge of the body organs; also Inhabit the Rhythm - a year long songwriting workshop that incorporated many different creative singing and writing processes and culminated in wonderful community performance, where participants shared their songs as well as audience members voluntarily shared some amazing indigenous songs, preceded by Vicky's 'Snake Chant' - 'Adi Shakti'.

A mother of a six year old daughter, kundalini yoga teacher and member of PEACE Farm Community, Vicky is a passionate creator and educator and last year completed a Permaculture Design Certificate, which led her to design a range of sustainable clothing as her main design project. 

Her main motivation, moving from a very large home, to a tiny home and having to downsize her beloved wardrobe. This led to many questions: "why do I have so many clothes? what clothes do I actually need? how can I minimise my wardrobe without compromising quality, functionality, beauty and ethics?"