Saoirse Byrne - USA
Saoirse Byrne is fascinated with cordage – the most ancient form of working with fibers. It is how humans first made rope, twine, string, and thread. Enabling us to bind, tie, pull, gather, hunt, hoist, weave – cordage shapes and transforms our world. This transformation is both functional and metaphorical.
Since 2019 Saoirse has focused on cordage jewelry from heirloom fabrics and textile waste and teaching others to do the same, using sentimental or discarded materials. She has a BFA in Apparel Design from Rhode Island School of Design and an MBA in Sustainable Business Development from Presidio School of Management in San Francisco. Her work is available at the Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco.
Saoirse’s home for the past twenty years has been the redwoods and oak woodlands of the Northern California coast where she has maintained a studio and raised her children. She has worked as an artist, designer, and craftsperson making diverse custom garments and soft furnishings, including an airplane cover, ceremonial attire, and reproducing a beloved bomber jacket in locally tanned deer hide.
Saoirse first learned to turn wild harvested plants into twine thirteen years ago at the Buckeye ancestral skills gathering. Curious, she turned to the abundance of materials in her own studio and life. Her great grandmother’s handkerchief, threadbare and altogether unusable, but too precious to throw away became, as cordage, a strong and loving reminder of family – a necklace that could be worn and a process that could be shared.
In its simplest form, cordage is a line – a boundary or a life line – connecting us to where we have come from and drawing us forward. For Saoirse, teaching and making are intertwined – cordage belongs to everyone. It is a timeless skill, kept alive by generations of makers and the joy of sharing. Saoirse is grateful to be able to carry on the tradition.
