Description:

Patterns of a Pandemic is a digitally printed textile collection that explores the unfolding events of the Covid–19 pandemic in New Zealand.

Looking to textiles from the past can give us great insight into the cultural and political climate of the time they were created. In my design process, I took inspiration from textiles that tell stories, the Toile de Jouy, The Names Memorial Aids quilt, WWII propaganda textiles, and the 2016 Pussyhat project. Textiles historically have been a willing and accessible medium for recording history. Following this tradition Patterns of a Pandemic aims to tell a story about New Zealand's reaction to Covid–19.

My methodology was centered around meticulously observing social media, reading articles, and watching the news, documenting what I saw through sketches and painting. Translating these events into surface pattern designs.

The hero print of the collection is inspired by photos that circulated on social media of some of the crazy masks that had been spotted out and about. Colourful characters don WWII gas masks, paper bags, and underwear to fight off the virus. Another shows people peering out cracked doors, cautious of the virus lurking outside. Other coordinates show locations of interest, the vaccine rollout, and an overwhelming look at some of the news headlines from 2020 and 2021. The resulting collection is a colourful, tongue-in-cheek look at how New Zealand experienced the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Patterns of a Pandemic aims to present a textile time capsule of the moment, serving as a reminder of what we went through, and what we experienced together.