Interwoven

Interwoven: Rupture and Repair, features the work of two photographers, Kyle Meyer and Donna Bassin, whose differing photo techniques share a common interest in the delicate balance between vulnerability and strength.

Kyle Meyer’s Interwoven series consists of hand-woven photographic portraits of gay men from Eswatini (also known as Swaziland), a country in Southern Africa where the LGBTQIA+ community is criminalized and which currently suffers from the highest HIV cases globally.

When creating the work, each subject is invited to select a vibrant wax-print fabric, traditionally used for women’s headwraps, which Meyer incorporates into their portrait. He photographs the individual wearing the chosen fabric, then meticulously shreds and weaves the print together with the fabric, creating a textured, three-dimensional portrait. This intricate process not only safeguards the subjects’ identities but also symbolizes the intertwining of personal and cultural narratives, highlighting the tension between visibility and concealment in marginalized communities.

Donna Bassin’s My Own Witness: Rupture and Repair is a poignant photographic series that delves into themes of trauma, resilience, and the transformative journey toward healing. Drawing from her expertise as a clinical psychologist, Bassin crafts a visual narrative that reflects the fractures and mends within both individual and collective identities. In a symbolic act, she physically tears the photographs, creating visual “wounds” that mirror the emotional and societal fractures of the time. Inspired by the Japanese art of kintsugi—the practice of repairing broken pottery with gold lacquer to highlight, rather than hide, imperfections—Bassin meticulously mends the torn images using gold rice paper and embroidery thread. This process not only restores the portraits but also imbues them with a renewed sense of strength and beauty, emphasizing the value of scars as testament to survival and growth.

Both photographers use portraiture to explore the journey toward personal and communal restoration.

Artwork Captions: Kyle Meyer, Unidentified90a, 2022. Courtesy of the Artist.

Donna Bassin, My Own Witness: Rupture and Repair.Tacy.5 , 2020. Courtesy of the Artist