Vessels is a Pratt Institute faculty-led research project exploring intergenerational collaboration through garment repair and reworking as acts of care, healing, and resistance. The project positions clothing as a vessel for embodied memory and storytelling.
This research examines reparative and collaborative craft practices by framing garment repair as a relational and restorative act. Working with participants and garments belonging to ancestors or loved ones, the project approaches clothing as a site of embodied knowledge, memory, and healing. The work is conceived as an act of service, tending garments left in limbo and sustaining their continued life through intentional care.
The project unfolds through a series of one-on-one, intergenerational collaborations centered on garments connected to ancestors or loved ones who have passed. With participant consent, each collaboration begins with a grounding meditative session, during which the participant holds the garment and reflects on sensory, emotional, and memory-based responses. This shared practice establishes a care-centered framework, followed by a conversational interview. Repair and/or reworking strategies are then developed in direct response to the participant’s reflections, allowing the garment to be mended, transformed, or reconstructed, should the participant choose.
This project is grounded in care ethics and collaborative craft methodologies. Participation is voluntary, and consent is ongoing. Participants retain full agency over how their garments, narratives, and documentation are used or shared. Garments associated with loved ones are approached with the utmost respect for their personal, familial, and cultural meanings, and all decisions regarding repair or reworking are made collaboratively.
If you are interested in participating, please email bgarn174@pratt.edu.