WEAVING In and Out

Who loves a chain link fence? Not me.  I know they have a purpose, but I have never seen one to love until today.

Based on a project, Katherine Daniels, did on Randall's Island two years ago, I had an idea that the new chain link fence enclosing the playground on Randall's Island, could be improved by adding a design using fence weave, a construction material.

Lola Odessey Waters and Sheila Odessey working on the fence.

I starting thinking about who would be the perfect person to come up with a concept for the fence design using plastic.  I thought of my sister.  Sheila, has been weaving for 30 years and currently has a business creating handbags by weaving strips made from ordinary plastic bags of every imaginable color.  She was the logical choice to visualize a design  for the fence and execute it with a group of volunteers.

As a family, we baked cakes, painted still lifes and traveled extensively in the United States, but we never "built" anything together.  My father was Mr. Fix-It.  He saw no need for assistance.  On Saturday, my sister, Sheila, my niece Lola, and volunteers from Google wove a fence design conceived by Sheila for Randall's Island Park playground.

It was a transformative moment.  A pedestrian fence became an playful artifice.  The colors of the weave  are a counterpoint to the colors of the play equipment.  I am imagining all the chain link fences on Randall's Island woven with plastic strips. It's a worthy ambition.

TO SEE SHEILA'S WORK GO TO:

www.sheilaodessey.com