who...
...cloth of stillness began as an aspiration to bridge my creative expressions of clothing design and education with the healing arts of meditation, yoga and qi gong…i, kien chu, intuited cloth of stillness around 2005 and evolved it quietly into a brand in 2010. The aesthetic of, “ holistic poeticism “ explores how cloth can support and integrate stillness | movement modalities through the unification of body | heart | mind awareness into the stream entry of life…
since then, my work continually evolves as an ongoing contemplation between stillness and movement, as it interfaces with how is it to human be….
some of the foundational tenets to cloth of stillness remains through timeless innovations: blurring the lines between the mystical and the secular, the red stillness cord with 3 knots, natural fibers | up-cycled cloth, poetry | poetics, kammacloth, 0-waste cutting, scrolling to pack, the organic use of spirals allowing the cloth to move unfettered throughout the body, seams that are metaphors of the gross and energetic anatomy, liberating agender ease…
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…every cloth of stillness design, be it physical | digital, is created and made | directed by me, kien chu, in a continued effort to encourage mindful making and conscious consumption...i offer 2 product | services categories: made to | by order and ready to buy…these methods are rooted in a cultivation of meditative embodiment through the reduction of waste, a recommitment to natural fiber | #mindheartfulupcycling cloth and the holistic value of human crafted designs…this in turn, may lessen harm and deepen our interdependency with all beings and Gaia for generations to come…
made to | by order
cloth...clothes...objects...an ongoing timeless series of exclusively made by order designs...poetry...contemplations...made to order, hand written poetry scrolls that are personalized, connecting creator and customer...
ready to buy
kammacloth...ready to buy designs that utilizes leftover scraps to lessen waste and revealing an aesthetic purity that balances with ethics…cloth of stillness meditations...ready to buy through immediate downloads, cloth of stillness meditations specializes in integrating mindful awareness with holistic creativity…cloth of stillness studio...ready to buy through purchasing registrations that offers insightful workshops on cloth, contemplation and creativity.....
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…each cloth of stillness design is completed through a 3 step energetic seal realized through handwork, chanting and scrolling to pack or folding…both the hand cut | raw edge silk label and cotton, muslin tag contains handwritten script allowing for the wearer to witness the impermanent nature of both beauty| ugly perceptions and any conceptions of attachments...this evanescence can be known and used as a point of aesthetic attention…
...the red stillness cord generates an energetic seal, while i stitch it into the cloth and chant the sacred 3 refuges...3 knots...3 abidings...Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha or awake, principles of awakenings, people of awakenings...embody it to your own truth...
...the design enters into completion through mindful packing, by means of poetic scrolling to pack or folding...this reveals an ease and spaciousness for travel, companioned with a final dedication of blessings…
...may this cloth bring you freedom of body in movement…may this cloth bring you joy of heart in kindness…may this cloth bring you ease of mind in stillness...
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kien chu
My professional background has been a 3 fold expression that encompasses creativity, contemplation and education. For 30 years, i have devoted my creative energies into the expression of cloth through the designing | making of clothing, textiles and poetry. i received an A.A.S. degree in 1991 at The Fashion Institute of Technology, NYC. Thereafter, i began designing for numerous American, fashion brands until creative burnout and disillusionment from the frenetic velocity of the fashion industry, along with its unethical emphasis on wasteful design and oppressive consumerism, imparted a fracturing of my creative psyche. As a result, i returned to education as an educator and simultaneously sought holistic healing through the contemplative technologies of meditation | mindfulness and yoga | qi gong. For over 15 years, i have been a faculty member at Parsons School of Design | The New School, NYC. My classroom is a process of creative embodiment, whereby the love of knowledge is a means of energetic reciprocity through teaching and learning. This empathetic exchange transforms both the giver and receiver into potential wholeness…
For nearly 20 years, my ongoing meditative enquiry through stillness and movement modalities, led to the brand, cloth of stillness. This realization is a triadic seal of creative completion through education, contemplation and cloth. In addition, i hold certifications as both a yoga and mindfulness meditation instructor with experience leading both individual and group settings. cloth of stillness meditations specializes in integrating mindful awareness with holistic creativity as a means of embodiment...and the potential awakening that liberates all aspects of fractured separateness into collective wholeness...11.29.2020
...words by kien chu
