Floral Fabrications

Mashanda Lazarus is a Los Angeles-based artist. For their Sketchbook series, Lazarus turned their eye to organic material. “I chose flowers and mosses of significance to base these textile sculptures on, prioritizing the materials, process, and intent over the aesthetic outcome,” they tell Zócalo.

Take a close look at each object: What might appear to be leaves reveal themselves to be silk and velvet; stalks and grasses are rendered from cotton and corduroy. “I used vintage fabric samples, scraps from altered pants, and other materials I had been hoarding,” Lazarus explains. …

How Textiles Became the Fabric of Summer | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

How Textiles Became the Fabric of Summer

And What Rally Towels, Picnic Blankets, and Pride Flags Tell Us About Being Human

Wedding dresses and bridal veils. Graduation caps and gowns. The Stars and Stripes and the rainbow Pride flag. Rally towels and baseball caps. The flags and fashions of the Olympic …

The Bug That Had the World Seeing Red

How a Mesoamerican Insect Created the Globe's Most Coveted Color

Once there was a color so valuable that emperors and conquistadors coveted it, and so did kings and cardinals. Artists went wild over it. Pirates ransacked ships for …