The Dichotomy of Yarn: A Workshop With Carol Hummel

Ohio-based artist Carol Hummel believes you should “take your dysfunction and turn it into art,” so her creations spring from her personal ideas and experiences. But she wants others to interpret what they mean.

“It’s not my story that’s significant. My art becomes significant because it connects to someone through their filter,” she explained.

Her most recent endeavors include the fiber arts (read: crochet). Her earlier works explored the unraveling of afghans into new objects—a new beginning, emerging from something old. At an art museum in Cleveland Hummel created a yarn ceiling over the entryway. She sees yarn as a material that can provide both comfort, like warmth, and confinement.

But here’s the secret: Hummel didn’t know how to crochet. She taught herself specifically for her art, and the pieces have evolved with her talents.

Hummel will be one of 11 artist to display their at the Arboretum this May. But before that, she needs the help of locals handy with a set of knitting needles. On Jan. 9 she led the first of in the Arboretum’s visitor’s center to create yarn lichens—nests of fungus and algae—for her installation. Thirty participants, along with Hummel’s daughter Emily and assistant Ben, met to discuss Hummel’s work and make rainbow bright lichens. Attendees hailed from across the suburbs and into Chicago. Woodridge resident Denise Murrey saw the event on Facebook and came in place of her regular knitting group day.

The workshop allowed participants to share techniques, chat and create a sense of community while completing a cooperative project.

Participants had the option to leave their work behind for Hummel’s use. because such monumental works can’t be completed alone. She and a team completed her first public art project, wrapping a cozy over a tree, in 500 hours. Hummel achieved the effect by measuring and mapping out the tree, constructing color-coded pieces and stitching them into a complete piece on-site.

Her creations have been displayed as long as four years with synthetic materials like macramé cord. Natural fibers, she said, cannot hold up to that test of time. Hummel recalled an experiment in outfitting trees in long underwear. She described the effect of the sagging cotton similar to wet pantyhose.

The lichen designs are similar to constructing a pot holder. The finished product for this installation will be displayed on a yellowwood tree between the Children’s and Maze gardens. But true to life, and true to lichens, patches of her yarn creations will be found in surrounding trees as well.

Those interested can still attend February and March crochet sessions. Price includes a crochet hook, refreshments and enough yarn to create two lichens.