Termeh Ghazi

Knitting memories through stitches

The intention which led me to make wearable pieces for a miniseries is based on my personal memories of moving to Canada. My memories of immigration have been knitted into three wearable art-based pieces, while each piece restores parts of my memories in different phases before, during and after moving to Canada. To my recollection, it was not possible to re-experience my memories without re-referring to my feelings at that time. Parts of these memories belong to my childhood in my country-of-origin, Iran. The other parts of my process represent what I have endured to get to where I am in my current home, Canada. Each piece is made of a vivid colour palette, beside their surfaces which are full of texture. I consider these pieces as a sensory platform to gather my experiences and feelings and reshape them on the body. Each stitch I knitted is a metaphor that shows my struggles, doubts, failures, and achievements I faced through my immigration. My final wearable pieces are regenerations of my past memories. Endeavoring my past and present, allows me to associate with my current life and gives me the feeling of belonging. The efforts to recreate a conceptual home motivated me to use knitting technique to create a miniseries.

“Knitting re-invoked memories of practicing hand knitting as a child and fused them with modern technologies of a knitting machine. Adding every single stitch and knitting them together is like a performative ritual to me. During the process, stitches unite with each other to make a wearable piece. I believe that it gives me the chance to convey my feelings to the audience(s) by touching pieces as well.”