This sculpture was brought to life by Philadelphia based artist, Cassie Jones, as part of the Burlington County Troll Trek in the fall of 2024.Â
"Meet Weft, the nest troll! Weft is a product of the textile industry and wants to give back to the earth that he was born from. Built with a metal frame using repurposed metals, chicken wire, and clothes hangers Weft stands over 6 feet tall, a presence mimicking human body figures. Everything on the surface and above the knee is composed of warp waste. Warp waste is yarn leftover from weaving on a loom. The yarn ends are too short to use for practical purposes, and often are sent to a landfill. Also filling out Weft's body are fleece skirting clippings. These clippings are what's left and unusable after trimming sheep, alpaca, llama etc. each year when collecting their fleeces for processing.
All materials used to create Weft will be natural and useful for local flora and fauna. Specifically that means using only cotton, wool, flax, natural brush, and twines. Birds may want to collect bits of wool to add to their nests. Beetles may find a home within the framework of metals and fiber waste inside the body of the troll. Moss will find the darker crevasses of his body a perfect space to grow and thrive. The materials of Weft will hold moisture with their absorbency which can be used by mycelial growth and root structures in times of less moisture.
Weft lives as a monument to how humans can work together with our environment to enrich while still pushing forward in our industrial era. With the amount of waste we are creating, it's projects like this that can quickly incorporate those wastes back into the society we live, which includes the plants and animals that share this space with us." - Cassie Jones