exaptive potential

Exaptation is the phenomenon where a trait adapted within a species for one purpose enables an unrelated, unintended function. The adaptation of feathers in birds was to regulate heat. Those feathers were later co-opted to facilitate flight. n-girls collective finds exaptive potential for reimagined fiber and fashion in the wildlife of Bodega Bay and the California coast.

What can we take from our hyperlocal space and transform into sustainable, functional art?

What exaptive functions and forms are available to us in the abundant wildlife and waste of one place?

exaptive potential is a place-based runway collection designed and crafted by n-girls collective. Plants, algae, shells, discarded fish, and trash were responsibly foraged in and around Bodega Bay and similar biomes, or reclaimed from the Bodega Marine Laboratory and local institutions.

With them we cyanotype dyed cloth, wove waste materials into structured forms, up-cycled discarded fishing net into wearable garments, extracted agar and other stabilizing agents from algae to create bio-plastics, tanned fish leather, beaded, knotted, knit, and sewed. All garments in the collection have either some foraged or upcycled element, or are heavily inspired by Bodega Bay wildlife.

This collection was funded by the Russell J. and Dorothy S. Bilinski Fellowship grant from the University of California, Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory.

n-girls collective

In the world of math and computer science, the n variable is the size of the input used to complete a function. n-girls collective keeps our collaborator number variable. We are women and queer artists entrenched in the world of STEM. For this project, our group holds four (n=4). Our work is informed by the methodologies used in our areas of study, as well as by critiques on how STEM can and has detrimentally impacted our society.

We are hopeful of new technologies, wary of how these technologies can be used, and are deferential to the old and analog technologies of our foremothers.

Collaborators

  • sewist, glass artist, marine evolutionary biologist

    is an artist and scientist whose research on marine ecology and evolution inspires the basis of this project. Erickson studies how organisms adapt to their local environments as a method for understanding how they have and will respond to changing environmental conditions. Her primary subject is eelgrass, a species from which she’s collected over 1000 samples all along the California coast.

  • designer, sewist, computer scientist

    is a multimedia artist who makes clothing with an emphasis on using found and repurposed materials. She experiments with shapes, textures, and ways of recycling materials into new forms. Her most recent ongoing project is constructing garments – jackets, overalls, vests – out of repurposed tote bags from her neighborhood. She previously showcased a fall/winter streetwear collection in 2021 Baltimore Fashion Week.

  • poet, knitter, ceramicist, computer science educator

    is a multidisciplinary artist, poet, and educator based in Chicago, IL. Her written work explores themes of nostalgia and loss through connection with the natural world and has been published in Pearl Press. Themes of sentimentality, abundance, and impermanence persist throughout her work in other mediums including ceramics, confectionery, collage, and knitwear.

  • knotter, weaver, forager, mechanical engineer

    is a fiber artist, designer, forager, and owner of Unknot, a handmade accessories studio. Thiam explores and experiments in the traditional mediums of macrame and weaving, pairing playful colors and thoughtful design to make functional, contemporary, easy-going pieces. She writes, “The traditional West African tapestries ever-present in my upbringing influence the bold colors and soft structures in my art.” Thiam enjoys working with common macrame materials of cotton and paracord, but is steadily integrating other materials–foraged grasses, needles, and vines, reclaimed materials like plastic bags or fishing net, algae-based bio yarn and knitted cord–into her work.

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