Never Underestimate the Power of the Planted Seed

Linum usitassimum – Flax – translates to the most useful plant. The bast fibers found within its stem, as well as the seeds, have been used by humans fo 30,000 years. The fibers were first used for making cording and nets. The manufacturing of Linen textiles began approximately nine millennia ago, when the Egyptians began weaving cloth for sails and clothing. The armies of Alexander the Great wore layered linen as armor. The seeds are, and have been, used to make powder, tablets, capsules, flour, and medicines. Oil extracted from the seeds yield linseed oil and is the basis of linoleum. Because of flax’s enduring characteristics, its fiber remains “a most useful fiber”; and linen, a noble textile. This sculpture is meant to remind the viewer of linen’s significant contributions to human history and to encourage exploration into new “usefulness”.

(Spinning flax fiber into linen yarn. Pin Loom weaving, crocheting, tatting, embroidery and natural dyeing.)