mission
[a statement in progress]
Material Encounters seeks to deepen our understanding of material, the relationship between material and mind, and the thoughtful use of material in art, craft, and industry. I share this intention with a community of artists, creatives, architects, designers, scholars, philosophers, craftspeople, environmentalists, makers, curators, mavericks, and the curious––anyone who works and plays with material. The emphasis is on the transformative dialogues between material, hand, and mind, regenerative and innovative material, and local ecosystems. I seek to inspire and empower my shared communities, contribute to our cultural landscape, and engage in meaningful social and creative initiatives.
My intent is to cultivate critical dialogue, facilitate access to the breadth of material knowledge and resources, and host events that highlight research, creation, and exhibition,
I write these words from the ancestral, traditional, and unceded lands of the Gabrieleno and Tongva peoples. Sometimes when I visit family I write from Chumash land.
LESLEY ROBERTS
I am a systems thinker, creative strategist, cultural producer, and community builder. Threading together a degree in art history, a professional life in luxury marketing (storytelling), and a fascination with place, I have developed a social practice that fosters creativity and its innate connection to the natural world, that brings together textile craft, grassroots organizing, alternative economic systems, and a cross-disciplinary approach to art, cultural discourse, and regenerative design. My body of work encompasses material ecology; material and the mind; local ecosystems and economies, and the building of an alternative, collaborative, hopeful future.
My interest is in regenerative design as a practical discipline, as the "poetry of survival," and as it can be explored through exhibition, storytelling, and community building, as well as application. To this end, I produce symposia on textile art, craft, and local production; initiate and produce talks and studio tours with artists, authors, architects, activists, and academics; and co-create workshops that explore hand-mind-body relationships. I am the lead for the Southern California chapter of Fibershed, the soil-to-soil regenerative textile movement, and the founder of Material Encounters, a space for my personal research-thinking about our social, ecological, and material worlds. I co-created a working group that is exploring alternative economic models for regional fiber systems. I have been asked to speak at industry and university events on material innovation, regenerative textile systems, and the creative economy. I recently curated and produced Sympoiesis: making with, exploring how clothing has shaped our relationship to the land, our bodies, and each other. I produced a screening of Biocentrics, the yet-to-be-released documentary of Janine Benyus' game-changing methodology. I was recently selected to present at Textile Society of America's 2024 Symposium, Shifts and Strands.
I have a BA in Art History from UCLA and a certificate from UCLA Anderson’s Executive Education program. I am currently enrolled in the MA Regenerative Design program at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London.
