Jaimie (she/her) began weaving as a way of connecting with community. As a powerful Kamilaroi woman, growing up without her culture felt like a loss and she desperately wanted to break that cycle for her daughters. Weaving was an instant connection to culture for Jaimie, one that she hopes to pass on through generations to come.

Jaimie: I’ve found my weaving process only has one definitive decision: Do I make a long coil starter or a round one? This will create either an oval or circle shape - then I let the weaving ebb and flow on its own. I’ll have an idea of the shape and size but I find for me they very rarely turn out exactly as I expected. I try to not have too much of an idea of what I want.

Nicole: So with this basket you made recently, did it come out different than expected?

Well no, I wove this basket in a really stressful time of my life. When I look at it now, I can just see all the stress I poured into it. It’s weirdly become my most neatly structured piece as I would focus my tension on each stitch as a way to collect my thoughts.