How can one feel protected in an increasingly chaotic world? That is the central question that Orquidia Violeta @orquidia_violeta sought to wrestle with when she started making her Chalecos Protector (protective vests) in 2020. It may not bear explanation why this project felt pressing at that historical moment, with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, a fractious political environment, and the open resistance to police violence, and subsequent counterresistance, taking over our streets. For Violeta, though, it was also a way to burrow deep inside and build understandings within herself about how she relates to certain concepts and words, such as home, and make an external shell to hold those understandings.

 On a bright summer day, a few weeks ago, Orquidia was mainly concerned about how they would hang. “All fifteen are finished and ready, but I’m going to do custom hangers, and custom stands, so there’s plenty to do before the opening still,” Violeta explains as she lifts up vest after vest from storage to show to me. There are so many details on each vest, I can only absorb a small percentage of the fabric patterns, embroidered designs, and imagery as they are laid on top of each other.

 Orquidia Violeta is opening her new show, Story Within Chalecos Protector (Protective Vests) on October 3rd, 6-9 PM, at after/time collective gallery @aftertimecollective at 735 SW 9th Ave #110, Portland, OR 97205. It would be well worth your time to catch Orquidia at the show if you can, for the way that she can uniquely describe the tendrils of inspiration that erupt from each of the pieces; sometimes, it’s just a good story about building a relationship with a woman at a farmer’s market who gave her a bundle of quilting fabric, and sometimes it’s a string of words or a printed image that goes back to Violeta’s birth.

 Perhaps the best way to experience the Chalecos Protector is the upcoming workshop, on October 17th at 6 PM, at after/time gallery, in which Violeta will facilitate the creation of a collaborative community vest. Pre-cut panels will be provided that can be sewn, dyed, or decorated with salvaged fabric, weavings, and found objects. Participants will have the opportunity to reflect on what they want to communicate through their portion of the protective vests. Whether it’s a personal story, a cultural motif, or a statement of resilience, each stitch and brushstroke becomes a part of a larger narrative. After the workshop, the participant’s panels will be sewn together into a protective vest, and displayed on a mannequin in the exhibit for us all to see what the community created together.

You can sign up for the workshop here.