Flax Dandies

Flax Dandies emerged from research into traditional hand-making technologies and folk practices of Scotland and Ireland. Having ancestral ties to those lands this research has been in service of reconnecting to lineage through embodied practice. Drawing inspiration from Scottish straw working techniques, specifically Egham Harvest Tokens or ‘lover’s tokens’ traditionally made by Scottish agricultural workers, a series of custom adornments were made for 5 local queer farmers. The design process was shaped by consultations and conversations with each of the farmers and incorporates locally produced flax (in place of the straw used traditionally) with metalwork. A second small ‘lover's’ token was made for each participant to send along to another queer farmer, near or far, as a gesture of care and solidarity, with hopes of fostering connection and support among queer agricultural workers more broadly. Reimagining the lover’s token through a contemporary queer lens nods to the rich history of flagging and the expansive diversity of relationships within 2SLGBTQIA+ communities. It seeks to acknowledge some of both the joys and struggles of living/working as rural queers and to honour the essential labour of queer farmers facing the escalating challenges of both climate crisis and anti-2SLGBTQIA+ discrimination and violence. This project is rooted in a deep appreciation for plants, ongoing relationship building with place, and grew out of a desire to experiment with bridging gaps between Kit’s current work as a queer artist and the lineage of farming in their family history. A weaving together of distance and disciplines.

This work was created as part of The Flaxmobile Project in 2024 which culminated in the exhibition, Flax Ecologies, that showed at the Ross Creek Center for the Arts, The Cape Breton Center for Craft and Design, and the Anna Leonowens Gallery (Halifax). Farmer collaborators are Brynn Baneberry & Nikē/Vic Baneberry (of Crows’ Commons), Lindsay Miller, Clary Ager & Percy Ager (of Ager Lane). All flax for this project was grown at Crows’ Commons and film photos of farmers was shot by Ellen Murphy Timbre. This work was made possible with support from Arts NS.