BASKET

— It was difficult to get a hold of baskets at that time (1993–1994) (...) I remembered my life in the countryside and how they wove them there. (...) But I didn't have any material. I needed vines (...) And so I thought to myself, "Maybe I can make one without vines?" — Tanya! (...) So I saw these ribbons and wondered if I could weave baskets from them. So when I was getting the ribbons together I thought about how I could weave with them. So, like, when we used to weave with vines we started from the top. You have your main ones that are woven around the rim and attached to it. But then I had some problems. I, um, got a bit lost here. So then I decided to try it the other way around – to start weaving from the bottom (...) But that didn't work out either. So I got a square board, laid these ribbons out on it, and started to weave across. And this is how I got the bottom. Then I started to make the bends, but the shape didn't turn out so well. What to do? I started to think. Maybe I could use, like, a mold? So I found a bucket and put it on this square, and started to fold the ribbons inside it. But they wouldn't stay still. What to do now? I got some rope, fixed it on with that, and then it held still like I needed it to. Then I needed to do the rim. I got stuck here too. Then I remembered that I have those things (...) uh, that you use for insulating. So I decided to use that. I took it, made the rim from that cord, and started to braid. When I'd finished braiding it had turned out kind of like mesh. There was no body at all (...) So I started to flatten it. I flattened everything, and there wasn't even any waste. I used all of it.