CrossCraft Pattern Systems- Steven Pong, Jennifer Johnson, Iris Levine, Jennifer Marvin, Mackenzie Wallich

CrossCraft Pattern Systems
Steven Pong, Jennifer Johnson, Iris Levine, Jennifer Marvin, Mackenzie Wallich

Alumni Reading Room, MacOdrum Library, Carleton University
September 19 - November 28, 2025

How can the logic of a stitch, knot, or quilt block translate into an entirely different medium?

CrossCraft Pattern Systems explores the visual and structural languages of traditional crafts including knitting, quilting, embroidery, and macramé, as inspiration for contemporary pattern-making. Each piece in the exhibition pairs a bold, tufted rug with a handmade reference object drawn from the original craft tradition, revealing the underlying systems and processes that inform both.

By abstracting core elements like stitches and knots into new material forms, this research-creation project asks how the logic of making can travel across media. Carrying with it not only structure and repetition, but meaning and expressive potential.

Presented in the Alumni Reading Room at Carleton University’s MacOdrum Library, this collaborative exhibition invites viewers to see familiar crafts with fresh eyes, and to imagine new possibilities for design shaped by making traditions.