Artist Statement:An estimated 100 billion garments are manufactured annually, with 92 million tons of textile waste. Transforming salvaged fabric into modular wearable tapestries, Wiggle Room unites community weaving with fashion and dance to investigate the physical weight of modern textile waste.

DelPan-Monley and Abbott met in 2018 through Janelle’s clothing reconstruction service, Wardrobe Therapy. Since then, they have collaborated on many projects including: “miku, and the gods.” (ArtsWest 2022) and Channel Changer (Bumbershoot 2023). With support from 4Culture, their current project, Wiggle Room, investigates the physical weight of modern textile waste on people and the planet. Through an iterative series of workshops, installations, and activations, Wiggle Room will culminate in 2027 as a hybrid dance-fashion performance. Follow @wiggglerooom to stay updated on upcoming events.

Alyza DelPan-Monley strives to create processes where everyone can exist in their fullest selves through dance. They served as Velocity Dance Center’s Curating Artist in Residence, and directed and choreographed throughout Seattle (5th Avenue Theatre, WET, Cornish College, Seattle University and Seattle Children’s Theatre). As a Filipinx-American third culture kid – performance is a life-long attempt to communicate beyond the structural limitations of language, to be more understood, to better articulate what makes us all so different and yet so similar.

Raised in her parents’ Seattle clothing factory, Janelle Abbott developed an early respect for the labor behind every stitch. After graduating from Parsons, she rejected corporate fashion, choosing a radically sustainable, zero-waste path instead. Through her brand JRAT and Wardrobe Therapy, she transforms discarded materials into rhythmic, layered, unapologetic garments. Currently, she is artist-in-residence at Recology, and has worked with Path With Art, the Pacific Northwest Ballet, Cannonball Arts, and Artswest. Biannually, she produces a fashion show of new work during New York Fashion Week. Janelle’s work merges activism, art, and performance—a form of labor solidarity, she exposes fast fashion’s farce through garment reclamation, reminding us that all garments are human artifacts.

(Headshot Photo Credit: Rodrigo DeMedeiros and leo othón)