DNA, often referred to as the thread of life itself, is a molecular structure woven into the fiber of our existence. This project explores the striking structural and conceptual parallels between DNA and textile making, and how the similarity between both structures relates back to the basics of coding. Through this work, I examined the intersections between storytelling, art, and science as one physical form. The goal of this work was to determine how genetic sequences translate into textile patterns, revealing a shared language of form and function. Then, connecting the junction point to modes of communication and hidden storytelling. Textiles and DNA share deep structural and informational parallels. This project opens doors for new ways to visualize and materialize genetic narratives. 

My fascination with ancestry has long been a driving force in my creative work. As a woman born biologically from an anonymous sperm donor, my work always brings me back to cherishing my maternal lineage; my mother, a source of safety and admiration throughout my childhood. This project is an ode to the maternal inheritance encoded in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA.) mtDNA is passed down from mother to child, generation after generation. I aim to honor the women whose existence shaped mine, their genetic imprint an enduring presence in both my body and my work.

Historically Narrative

Historically, textiles have functioned as one of the earliest and most enduring forms of visual communication. Across cultures and centuries, textiles were not only practical skills, but also vital tools of expression. In Andean civilizations, the Incas used textiles as a mode of communication. Quipu is used as a system of tying knots encoding numerical data as a record keeping device. In ancient Egypt, textiles were used in everyday life, but also for ritualistic purposes, often holding symbolic meaning. Specific weavings included color to denote hierarchy. Garments were not only functional but also indicative of an individual's position within societal order. Throughout medieval and Renaissance Europe, textiles became further embedded in systems of power. Courtly fashion flourished under strict sumptuary laws that dictated permissible fabrics, colors, and designs based on class. A visual language using non verbal communication understood by all members of society. Tapestries emerged as prominent artistic narrative pieces during this period, depicting biblical scenes, allegories, and historical events.  The Bayeux Tapestry, produced in the 11th century showing the story of the Norman Conquest of England is a prime example. This work functioned as a historical document, propaganda, and textile art all in one embroidered scroll. In Native American cultures, particularly the Navajo, weaving was used to tell stories, practice spirituality, and used as a form of remembrance. Symbolic motifs were woven into rugs and garments, serving both aesthetic and mnemonic purposes. In West Africa, Adire cloths exemplify the integration of narration into textile practice. Using a resist dye technique, they encode proverbs, historical references, and roles directly into fabric, resulting in rich layered visual texts. In the modern era, textiles have also been used as a form of protest. During the women’s suffrage movement in the United States and the United Kingdom, textiles used color symbolism as a critique on current events. The symbol of a white ribbon and white clothing was used as a silent advocate for the right for women to vote. Similarly, in the United States abolitionist movement, hidden messages contained map-like patterns guiding enslaved people to freedom. Recently, digital textiles and wearable technology are used as a form of living narrative, Using heat/mood/weather. Textiles have and continue to serve as narrative structures showcasing symbolism of identity, of power dynamics, and as protest. 

Artists You Should Know

Blending science/technology with art isn’t a new phenomenon. Bioartist Anna Dumitriu exemplifies this convergence through her work with live bacteria cultures grown in agar jelly, which forms a visual representation of antibiotic resistance. She primarily focuses on relationships of illness, treatment, and microbial life. Using a technique of “impregnating” the garments with DNA, effectively “infecting” the textile, Dumitriu materializes biomedical narratives. She treats the fabric with antibiotics to demonstrate the therapeutic process. Her work critiques the over reliance of antibiotics including the long term effects. She often collaborates with scientists to engage in laboratory based projects, delving into the complexities of humanity (De La Garza, 2021). Artists Helen and Kate Storey have similarly bridged the disciplines of science and design in their project “Primitive Streak”, a clothing collection that visualizes the first 1,000 hours of human embryonic development. Each garment corresponds to key stages of cellular differentiation, organogenesis, and morphological transformation, offering a tactile and aesthetic interaction with scientific processes typically strictly observed under the microscope. In their subsequent project “Catalytic clothing”, Kate Storey explored the intersections of fashion and environmental chemistry. She treated garments with chemicals such as photocatalytic agents, enabling them to purify the surrounding air through light activated reactions. She transformed clothing into wearable environmental technology (De La Garza, 2021.) Together, these bio artistic interventions reaffirm textiles not only as mediums of utility or beauty, but also as complex narrative structures.

Scientific Side

At its core, DNA functions as a biochemical informational storage system composed of a linear sequence of nucleotides; (A) adenine, (T) thymine, (C ) cytosine, and (G) guanine. (Alberts, Ch. 4 2015) The same systematic regularity is mirrored in the textile practice. In weaving for instance, the information is encoded through the binary interplay of warp and weft. The threads that interlace in systematic intervals to create patterns. Similarly in the knitting process, the sequence of interlocking loops, where variation can be used to encode binary or symbolic structures. The repetitive yet flexible architecture of textiles provides a physical analog to DNA’s biochemical language. Further transcribing DNA into binary notation, A=00, T=01, C=10, and G=11. (Garrett & Grisham, 2016.) For the sake of simplicity, this project used color coding, where A= red, T= orange, C= blue, and G= green. Color coding reinforces the idea that information: cultural, biological, or emotional, can be conveyed through structure and pattern. The Book of Symbols, discusses the power of color and subsequent meaning. In summary, red is the color of life, danger, threat, attraction, intensity. Orange shows the unity of opposites, maturation, and harvest. Green, the duality of life and death, jealousy, illness, growth. Lastly, blue, eternity, depth, the last color to be studied. (Ronnberg, 2010.) Mechanically, the physical act of twisting fiber into yarn can reflect DNA’s double helix. Both are helicoidal in form, dependent on tension, balance, and modular units of construction. The equivalence of yarns twist and poly formation resembles deep similarity to DNA’s strands and base pairs, both dependent on binding strength for stability. In this sense, textile fabrication becomes not just a metaphor for biology but also a medium for the biological information to be actively explored. Microscopic imaging further enriches the link between scale and structure. High-res imaging reveals the intricacies of DNA coiling within chromatin textile patterns, magnified on the micro scale further allowing for a deeper investigation of sequencing. Through these scientific mechanics, the project transforms DNA from an abstract sequence of bases, into a tactile, legible artifact. 

Process

This was my first experience with weaving, and the process was both challenging and deeply rewarding. As with learning any new technique, there was a fair amount of trial and error involved, but each step taught me something valuble. From setting up the loom to completing the final piece, I gained a much deeper understanding of the rythm of the process. While weaving had its own challenges, my background in other fiber arts, such as knitting, crochet, embroidery, all proved to be incredibly helpful. Many if the foundational skills i've developed through those practices translated well to weaving. Although each fiber has its distinct characteristics, they often share overlapping principles. Overall, this project has given me a foundation to build upon, and i'm excited to carry this experience forward into future weaving projects. 

This project led me down an unexpected research path, and opened up an entirely new realm of artistic inquiry. I found myself inspired by everything that I was discovering. I chose to focus my inital exploration on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) because it felt like an intuitive starting point, strangely it felt fimiliar and distant at the same time. Looking ahead, i'm particularly interested in investigating the concept of ovarian intergenerational continuity. The idea refers to the fact that when a woman is pregnant with a daughter, that daughters ovaries already contain her full set of eggs. Therefore, theres a period of three generations of bodies are all connected through one pregnancy. I'm eager to translate this phenomenon into fiber-based work by collecting samples/stories from three generations in a single family and mirror their genetic structure through the textile process. Another direction i'm curious to explore is the concept of parthenogenesis, a form of asexual reproduction found in plants, invertebrates, and certain vertabrates, including amphibians, fish and birds. The existence of self sustaining female driven reproductive systems raises fascinating questions about autonomy, and evolutionary alternatives.