Textile Terrorists

A subversive project with a witty name – Tiny Pricks – lets people vent about Donald Trump one stitch at a time.

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Victoria-based textile artist Diana Weymar surely is one of President Donald Trump’s “nasty women.”

Weymar sounds polite enough in interviews. But this transplanted American is definitely “nasty,” like Hillary Clinton, the Greenland-hugging prime minister of Denmark and those four rookie Democratic congresswomen of colour who were told to go back to where they came from.

Weymar has created a viral monster with her Tiny Pricks Project, which has seen her and hundreds of equally subversive volunteers stitch authentic, outrageous Trump quotations onto pieces of repurposed cloth so they can be exhibited publicly. Talk about airing America’s dirty linen in public. 

The project has been earning headlines around the world, from Bangkok to Berlin. A British affiliate mocking Prime Minister Boris Johnson has even sprung up. Canada’s prime minister can be glad he never says much that’s offensively memorable. A bunch of stitched Justin Trudeau apologies for the federal government’s past sins just wouldn’t cut it.

By early September, there were more than 1,275 works, with more mailed to Weymar every day by textile terrorists in Canada, the United States and elsewhere. Weymar has created hundreds herself.

The sayings cover everything from “lock her up” to “grab ’em by the pussy” and “I’m the best thing that’s ever happened to Puerto Rico.” 

That last one was stitched, fittingly, onto a paper towel – a reference to the rolls of paper towels Trump threw to Puerto Ricans, like fake coins to starving children, after the Caribbean island was devastated by a hurricane in 2017. Weymar will not say which stitched saying she likes the most, just as she does not have a favourite amongst her four children. But she can’t get that Puerto Rican creation out of her mind.

Weymar relates the beginning of the Tiny Pricks Project on her website: “On Jan. 8th, 2018 I stitched ‘I am a very stable genius’ into a piece of my grandmother’s abandoned needlework from the 1960s. When I posted it on Instagram, the response was immediate and overwhelmingly positive. 

“Assuming he would become more presidential over time, with only the occasional ridiculous tweet, I decided to stitch one Trump quote a week. However, it quickly became a daily practice, as I tried to keep up with the outpouring of ‘unpresidential’ text.”

A few exhibitions have been held in the United States. A summer-long show at Lingua Franca in New York closes Sept. 30. Another is on view from Sept. 14 to Nov. 3 at Speedwell Projects in Portland, Maine. More shows will undoubtedly come. Weymar would love to have an exhibition in Canada.

The stitched Trumpisms reflect how far the president’s lack of couth has reached far beyond his country’s borders, affecting politics and pop culture everywhere. In Mexico last year, I saw some of the same Trumpisms in street graffiti and on souvenir buttons that mocked the president. No doubt countless art projects have been inspired, including Nasty Women, a series of portraits by Calgary artist Veronica Funk.

Weymar’s project will continue until Trump leaves office. The goal is to have 2,020 works by the 2020 presidential election. She hopes Trump will be defeated, but is contemplating her Plan B should lightning strike the electorate twice.

While the Tiny Pricks Project has a massive following on Instagram, it also has critics. Some people think it is disrespectful to the president. Some think it is disrespectful to the fabric, which includes heirlooms. Some say Weymar is fuelling hate. Clearly, opinions are divided. But art has always provoked strong reactions. Weymar is not deterred.

One can only speculate what Trump might think of the Tiny Pricks Project. Maybe he would call it “nasty.” Or, depending upon his mood, he might dismiss Weymar with his ultimate putdown for women who accuse him of sexual assault: “She’s not my type.” Well, Trump is definitely not Weymar’s type. ■ 

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