Women with various health needs are benefiting from a new textile project by feeling better overall.
The exhibition Interlaced Narratives: Weaving Tales Through Textiles features works by women who are disabled as well as those who have cancer or mental health issues.
The artist Anurita Chandola, who lives and works in Bristol, said she wanted her students to engage in "creative healing.".
It's really motivating to see people smile when the workshop is over, she said.
Women ranging in age from 19 to 72 attended the workshops at The Vestibules on College Green in Bristol.
At Bristol School of Art, Ms. Chandola, a wellbeing instructor, said she aimed to make textiles with "meaning.".
She said that when people with various needs try to pick up new skills, it aids in their healing and helps them "forget about what goes on in their life.".
In the workshops, participants discuss one topic connected to their "story.".
After learning skills like hand embroidery, knitting, or crocheting, each student makes an intricate patch during the classes.
To be displayed at The Vestibules on Friday, these will be combined into a sizable patchwork piece and sewn together.
Every piece, according to Ms. Chandola, tells a story about the artist who created it.
One of my students has cancer, and she claims that when she enters the room, she forgets about her personal problems.
"Even in a safe environment where they can tell their story, it's about the connections they form within the group. The importance of communication cannot be overstated. ”.
Ms. Chandola's wellness classes and her passion for art are combined in this project.
Throughout the week, passersby from the neighborhood are welcome to enter and add their own "story" to the patchwork.
They might be smokers who want to stop, and crocheting could help them do so by keeping their hands occupied and distracting them, according to Ms. Chandola. ".
As long as people keep adding to the patchwork, she hopes it will be "infinite.".
The free course is supported by Bristol School of Art.
Ms. Chandola, an Indian native, has worked to advance women's rights in inhospitable regions all over the world, including the Himalayas.
She continued, "I teach them art, how to make things by hand, and I sell them here, to help them buy themselves meals.".
She hopes that different art galleries will display the patchwork so that people can continue telling their stories.
