"Indian Summer" by Crystal Gregory: crochet crafts, reminiscent of a spider web

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

What do we associate with fine lace napkins? With home comfort and evenings with mom or grandmother, with the feminine ability to settle down and equip the space. Gaping dark windows are draped with curtains, the corners of the cupboards are hidden under homemade napkins. The latter will be discussed. American Crystal Gregory decided to spread the concept of a house throughout New York and decorate the city with her crochet crafts to make the metropolis more comfortable.

In her free time from weaving napkins, Crystal Gregory is busy making installations for large galleries and, together with an architectural bureau, equips apartments for wealthy New Yorkers. But the problem is that comfort comes to the homes of Americans, and on the streets there are still many uninhabited places.

Blank concrete walls, wooden fences and barbed wire look oh so unpresentable. They are needed, they are functional, but such an urban landscape looks just disgusting, says Crystal Gregory. Everyone creates comfort in their personal home world, but no one really thinks about the streets.

And what kind of oxymoron is this - "street comfort"? Chickens laugh! The juxtaposition of a cozy, safe home and a street exposed to all sorts of surprises in weather and history is firmly ingrained in the human brain. The house is a private space, the street is public. And in public places everything needs to be durable - multi-colored thread cobwebs are useless there, they won't take root.

Or will it take root? Crystal Gregory proposes to connect the house and the street, private and public, indoor and outdoor space. And also to soften the masculinity of the city with traditional female handicrafts. And crochet spider webs appear on brick walls, armor mesh, and even barbed wire.

Urban space is a place where materials such as iron, wood, concrete and brick triumph. Craftswoman Crystal Gregory does not urge to abandon them, but only wants to brighten up the urban landscape, to bring into it the features of home comfort. She hopes that this will change the attitude of people towards their hometown, making it personal and warmer.