Five Minutes with a Friend: Patriae Studio
Meaning ‘homelands’ in Latin, Patriae serves as both title and influence for Barbara Pisch’s work; within it are the principles and aesthetics of her own family history.
Image courtesy of Rob Cusick.
Since then, Patriae has organically evolved into a store and gallery that focuses on unique and skillfully-crafted new and vintage goods and clothes, sourced locally and internationally.
Patriae Studio are offering a prize in the upcoming issue of Selvedge issue 119: Savoir Faire which will be released this Saturday 15 June. We spoke to Barbara about her textile stories and histories.
What is your first memory of a textile?
I am the product of many generations of tailors, seamstresses, and weavers. I can’t remember a period of my life that wasn’t defined by, or surrounded with, textiles. I was born in Czechoslovakia where, at the time, almost everybody sewed, all women knitted, crocheted, embroidered, and repaired, and where I was only a generation or two removed from a time when all rural families wove their own hemp cloth. My grandfather was a locally-famous tailor with an atelier of 40 tailors, and my father illegally made copies of America jeans in a communist country. When we came to the US in 1986, both of my parents found employment as tailors. Textiles are the most familiar thing in the world to me. They are part of all of my earliest memories, desires, and hopes.
Image courtesy of Rob Cusick. Image above courtesy of Kristian Quistgaard.
Can you put into words what you love about textiles?
Because of my family history, textiles are a connection to my homeland, my childhood, my ancestors, and my current immediate family. They are in my blood and define the way my family relates and communicates. Additionally, I appreciate and admire nothing more than skilled craftsmanship, so I love textiles as a witness to the talent and dedication of weavers, tailors, embroiderers, artists, and other textile workers.
What has inspired you recently?
Mainly my travels. I travel as much as I can and attempt to seek out examples of native crafts, particularly antique versions, wherever I am in the world. I am generally most inspired by different ways in which people live and thrive, and I try to apply those lessons to my own life and work. I’ve just returned from a few weeks on a quiet island in Indonesia and was so inspired by the joy, inclusivity, and slow pace of the local folks, along with the natural beauty of the island and the solitude that is possible there. It left me with a desire to spend more time making slow, creative pieces vs functional ones.
Patriae from Rob Cusick on Vimeo.
Born in Slovakia to a lineage of tailors and fiber-craft experts, Barbara relocated to the US at age seven, and grew up collecting antique textiles from her homeland as a way of connecting to her heritage. She first made a tote from an antique handwoven hemp grain-sack over twenty years ago, and after years in various design fields opened her textile showroom and sewing studio in Asbury Park, NJ in 2016.
Since then, Patriae has organically evolved into a store and gallery that focuses on unique and skillfully-crafted new and vintage goods and clothes, sourced locally and internationally.
Patriae Studio are offering a prize in the upcoming issue of Selvedge issue 119: Savoir Faire which will be released this Saturday 15 June. We spoke to Barbara about her textile stories and histories.
What is your first memory of a textile?
I am the product of many generations of tailors, seamstresses, and weavers. I can’t remember a period of my life that wasn’t defined by, or surrounded with, textiles. I was born in Czechoslovakia where, at the time, almost everybody sewed, all women knitted, crocheted, embroidered, and repaired, and where I was only a generation or two removed from a time when all rural families wove their own hemp cloth. My grandfather was a locally-famous tailor with an atelier of 40 tailors, and my father illegally made copies of America jeans in a communist country. When we came to the US in 1986, both of my parents found employment as tailors. Textiles are the most familiar thing in the world to me. They are part of all of my earliest memories, desires, and hopes.
Can you put into words what you love about textiles?
Because of my family history, textiles are a connection to my homeland, my childhood, my ancestors, and my current immediate family. They are in my blood and define the way my family relates and communicates. Additionally, I appreciate and admire nothing more than skilled craftsmanship, so I love textiles as a witness to the talent and dedication of weavers, tailors, embroiderers, artists, and other textile workers.
What has inspired you recently?
Mainly my travels. I travel as much as I can and attempt to seek out examples of native crafts, particularly antique versions, wherever I am in the world. I am generally most inspired by different ways in which people live and thrive, and I try to apply those lessons to my own life and work. I’ve just returned from a few weeks on a quiet island in Indonesia and was so inspired by the joy, inclusivity, and slow pace of the local folks, along with the natural beauty of the island and the solitude that is possible there. It left me with a desire to spend more time making slow, creative pieces vs functional ones.
Image courtesy of Barbara Pisch.
What is your most cherished textile, and why?
I can’t nail it down to a single piece but the ones that my grandmothers and their mothers and grandmothers made by hand are the most meaningful. These include monogrammed linens, crocheted lace, and handwoven indigo and madder textiles native to the region of Slovakia I am from.
Where did you learn your craft?
From my grandparents and parents, all of them. My grandmothers taught me to crochet, knit, and embroider when I was a child and still lived in Slovakia, and later my parents taught me how to sew. I never expected these skills to define my life’s work, but I am proud that they do.
Selvedge issue 119: Savoir Faire will be published on Saturday 15 June. Pre-order your copy on our website today:
www.selvedge.org/products/issue-119-france-coming-next-pre-order
Find out more and follow Patriae Studio:
www.patriaestudio.com