I have been working with silk processing and raising Bombyx mori silkworms periodically since 2010. This body of work was created during a textile studio class at NSCAD University in the summer of 2013. Over the course of 4 months I raised approx. 500 silkworms from eggs, documented their growth and created several pieces using silk produced by those silkworms as well as some that I had raised in previous years. Death is intrinsic to silk processing, as the only way to acquire fine reeled silk is to kill the pupa inside each cocoon before it hatches, thereby preventing it from breaking the continuous thread that makes up each cocoon. In working closely with these animals I became increasingly aware of life cycles and concerned with the moral implications of silk production and animal domestication in general. I also began to draw connections between these issues, and my concerns with factory production and working conditions in the contemporary silk industry.
I am extremely grateful to the many people both in and outside of the textile department at NSCAD University, who offered me help and support for the duration of the project. I extend my thanks in particular Sandra Brownlee and Anke Fox for their support during this project. I am also indebted to the many generous citizens of Halifax, Nova Scotia, who donated mulberry leaves in order to feed the silkworms.
Greta Pepper 