Katarina Ekart (SI)

The work explores the fragility and transformative power of nature, with silkworms (Bombyx mori L.). playing a central role. The artist rejects the traditional method of obtaining silk, which involves destroying the cocoons, and instead allows the silkworms to complete their life cycle from larva to moth. She carefully monitored the process and removed them while they still had enough fibroin and sericin to complete their cocoon. In four days of intensive spinning, the silkworms precisely covered selected parts of the structure, which later became part of a mobile. In the space, the mobile becomes an element of meditation, movement, and self- awareness.

The work was created in 2023 as a master’s thesis under the mentorship of Marija Jenko and co-mentorship of Rebeka Luciana Berčič and Tatjana Rijavec at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Department of Textiles, Graphic Arts and Design, Chair of Textile and Fashion Design.

For BIEN, the object was set in motion by Lavoslava Benčič and Žiga Pavlovič, using data measuring wind strength and direction in the Goriška region, based on publicly available data from ARSO.