Communicating through the textile language
West Arichat woman combines fashion, creativity and business
What started out as a way for Josephine Clarke to express herself creatively has turned into a business that is also ecofriendly.
“I developed an interest in sewing in high school because it was a way to create that made sense and was relevant,” said Clarke, of West Arichat. “It was a practical way to implement my creativity.”
This interest would lead to Clarke getting a degree in apparel design from Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Surrey, B.C. This is when she also developed an interest in textile design.
“The language of textiles is what I have learned from. Textiles is still the universal language I use to understand art,” said Clarke.
She then turned this interest into a business, establishing Josephine Clarke Textiles in 2018.
“I’ve always marched to the beat of my own drum. On my mom’s side of the family everyone was self-employed. Even the people who weren’t had some kind of hustle on the side. I grew up in the Rockies and it’s a difficult place to live; everyone has multiple ways to earn income,” said Clarke.
Whether it’s one of her scarves, scrunchies or socks, Clarke can tell her customers everything about it including the material used to make the piece or the dyes.
“It’s important to the consumer to know where their clothes are coming from. It’s easy for us to be disconnected from the things that we wear. This is something we must have but we don’t see the people who make our clothes,” said Clarke.
“To me, it’s a way to show it’s an item that was made with care. I know every material that was used. Most clothing manufacturers can’t tell you that. There isn’t enough transparency in the industry,” continued Clarke.
“The fashion industry is one of the biggest polluters and waste creators in the world. So, to me, having labels that communicate the plants I use is a way to show consumers that this really is connected to a real person and a real place.”
Clarke has also been making sculptures for the past three years with linen cloth and found rusted metal objects from rural beaches across Nova Scotia.
“I rust the patterns of the
found items into the cloth by using the seawater around them. The cloth serves as a memory, as a witness, for the things we often avoid or become desensitized to,” said Clarke.
This idea came to her during the pandemic.
“Suddenly, I was by myself in a rural place with a lot of time to be outside. All over Nova Scotia you can see the remnants of industrial boom and bust. For so many rural
communities we are left to pick up the pieces that corporations evade,” continued Clarke. “Often people go about their daily lives amidst all this debris and the land tries to heal itself. And yet in the wake of the pandemic, we see industry booming again, the same script is repeating itself. I wanted to take the things we ignore and present them in a different way. I call it bizzare-ifying the mundane. I hope one day rural communities
can break the script.”
For anyone wanting a custom-made piece, Clarke is mainly taking custom orders for fine art pieces. She also teaches workshops across the province and online so you can check her website (https://josephineclarketextiles.com/) or sign up for her newsletter for the various dates.
To view all of Clarke’s work, check her website or various social media pages.