ICE IS COOL

Pam McKinlay

Ice is Cool

Pam McKinlay

New Zealand / Otago Polytechnic

The scarves and shawls I create are one-off pieces each with a woven story about Earth processes and climate change. What we do in our day to day lives affects the atmosphere and cryosphere. For every 1kg of carbon emissions at the tail pipe we cause 15kg of glacial ice to melt somewhere in the world.

The Ice is Cool series of 2019, focused on the cryosphere, the source of much of the world’s fresh water. The scarves are created in homage to khata – white silk scarves traditionally associated with the Himalayan region. The woven symbols incorporated across the series of scarf designs were based on repetition of an ice crystal motif in the cubic form to remind us that every glacier begins with a fragile snowflake. They were woven white on white using fine wool/silk and highly reflective fine rayon. The resulting fabrics are light in weight, have great feel next to the skin and have beautiful drape. Variations in the scarf designs picked up other themes of surface meltwater on glaciers with rapid disintegration at the glacial face. This was reflected in the fabrics with increasing modification of the underlying pattern structures in the weaving lift plans, resulting in the eventual destruction of the ice-crystal motif and the weaving becoming more “watery”.

The series concluded with a glacier declared extinct in 2014. This scarf reflected the long trek up the rocky remains of Okjokull. Okjokull has become an international symbol of “once was glacier”. Shrinking glaciers reveal the current impacts of global warming amidst a sea of hard to grasp climate change projections of effects yet to materialise. Here we see change is rapid if you are a glacier, even though they are slow if you live in the human lane. Another reminder that ice is only ever cool. Glaciers are our canary in the coal-mine.

Listen to the birds. 

Bio: Pam McKinlay

social media: @Pam McKinlay

I am a weaver and textile artist with a background in applied science and history of art. The works I create are made predominantly in Art-Science projects. Wearing textiles with an embodied story is an ideal way to communicate climate imperatives in digestible chunks. The scarves and shawls I create often have intricate surface detail that invite queries as to how they were made and why. 

I work part-time for the Dunedin School of Art and Research Office at Otago Polytechnic, in media, publications and special projects. I have been a longtime participant in the Art and Science series and have been the co-cordinator for the last three projects. 

Education

Otago University  

Dip HSc - Textile Science/Clothing Design (completed 1983)  

BA - Art History/History (completed 1995) 

Te Wānanga o Aotearoa - Open Wānanga  

Certificate in Tikanga Māori Level 3 (2014)  

National Certificate in Mauri Ora - Level 2 (2013)

Open Universities Australia (Open2Study)  

Unaccredited Certificate of Achievement Project Management (2014)