2020 to 2021 | Cross-Pollinations

Abigail Doan | Studio
3 min readDec 28, 2020
studio library with a Nuraxi chaguar vessel, top left | photo: Abigail Doan 2020

I am bundling up 2020 by giving thanks for new collaborative connections while also looking ahead to future cross-pollinations. These interactions have been ‘mini-rafts’ or vessels of sorts, that is, ways of connecting over space and time, and staying afloat (engaged) during challenging times.

studio materials from Julie VonDerVellen for our collaboration | photo: Abigail Doan 2020

I am very excited to be collaborating with paper artist and professor, Julie VonDerVellen during 2021. Her intricate work is both technically exquisite and poetically charged. I look forward to seeing how our recycled paper/book materials and dialogues allow us to interweave ideas/practices during the coming year.

printed textile materials from Louise Barrington with my floating studio objects | photo: Abigail Doan 2020

Louise Barrington in the Orkney Islands and Kraftmade in Transylvania were so generous in their social media exchanges during the pandemic months. It was inspiring to discover ways for collaborating remotely, via layered still life documentation with handmade/modified objects and digital narratives.

b&w nest print, center right, from Kraftmade, with my floating studio objects | photo: Abigail Doan 2020

I was also fortunate to collaborate on writing projects/art exhibition concepts with Riccardo Monte Design studio in the Italian Alps. Riccardo’s approach to place-based architecture/design and craftsmanship dovetails with my interest in site-specific, environmental investigations and cultural preservation. His photography partner, Katie May, documents their environs so authentically — with an eye towards preserving maker traditions and the marks of charred, hand-hewn processes and natural forms.

NEST form by Riccardo Monte Design studio | photo: Katie May 2020

Teresa Robinson of Nuraxi and I have collaborated on community events in the past, so I was thrilled to see their website undergo a 2020 redesign. It was also a joy to create materials for their journal as part of this relaunch. The Persistent Truth of Chaguar documents my ongoing fascination with spun chaguar fiber and the woven objects created by Wichí artisans in Argentina. Nuraxi also has a new showroom in Santa Fe, NM, called Studio 1610, in collaboration with the amazing photographer, Eric Mindling.

Nuraxi chaguar vessel in my NYC home studio | photo: Abigail Doan 2020

A special thank you to my friends and family, both locally and globally, as we continue to navigate the terrain ahead. All of the above would not be possible without the support of those who continually lift me up and allow me to keep drifting as a means to strengthen my vision. There is a lot of cross-pollinating to do in 2021, safely so and with environmental tenderness. Be well, all.

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Abigail Doan | Studio

projects exploring the intersections of site-specific landscape phenomena, art lab/design methodologies, nature-based solutions, and cloth/textiles as metaphor