Paper Short Abstract:

This paper explores how crafting daily fibre-based "fairy" sculptures mediates folklore, blending tactile creation with storytelling. By reinterpreting craft as an evolving archive, it examines the sensory, relational, and unspoken knowledge embedded in five years of daily artistic practice.

Paper Abstract:

Over five years, I engaged in a daily practice of creating fibre-based, 3D "fairy" sculptures from natural materials, hand-painting features and photographing them in outdoor settings. This art project reimagined the role of craft as an active archive, embodying storytelling, folklore, and human-land relationships. Each piece was a response to place, season, and personal narrative, inviting dialogue through blog posts and social media engagement that reached a global audience.

This paper examines the "unwritten" aspects of this craft: the sensory knowledge of hands on fibre, the relational ties formed with materials and landscapes, and the evolving stories each creation carried. The project subverted traditional documentation by blending tactile processes with storytelling, leaving behind ephemeral traces—photographs, narratives, and online interactions—that disrupted conventional archival and folkloric frameworks.

Through the lens of this project, I explore how craft, as both process and product, becomes a vessel for tacit and sensory knowledge. How does craft mediate folklore and communal identity when removed from its utilitarian roots? How can daily creative acts challenge power structures and embrace sustainable, relational practices?