Meet Breanna Dickson

We had the good fortune of connecting with Breanna Dickson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Breanna, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I’ve always wanted to pursue art. To be honest, I’ve never really been able to imagine myself enjoying doing anything else. Ever since I was in second grade, I had wanted to be a photographer and I actually still do camera-work from time to time to this day. However, I think I’ve really found a home within textiles and that’s my main pursuit. I really love working with my hands and bringing my colorful little ideas into reality. It brings me so much joy. I wouldn’t want to do anything else.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I work with a lot of different materials. I think it kind of comes with the territory of textile art. I know very few people who only focus on one medium. If you’re a knitter, you’re eventually going to want to learn crochet. If you’re a weaver, beading may pique your interest. Personally, I’ve tried to dabble with as many different techniques as possible. My absolute favorites being weaving, rug tufting and beading.

I did a lot of sewing and knitting when I was in middle school but I didn’t become obsessive about textiles until late 2019. As soon as I got my first tapestry loom, basically all of my time went to weaving. I’d bring it to work and weave during conference calls or my lunch breaks. I’d weave all night at home. I’d go to as many textile exhibitions and order as many books as I could get my hands on. I wanted to know everything.

When I mainly worked with photography, a lot of my images were very dark and moody. I spent a lot of my life dealing with depression and it showed through my work. I still battle with my mental health and I think it’s going to be a lifelong endeavor but I definitely have better coping mechanisms now and it’s easier for me to lean into the brighter, livelier side of myself. I like to show that with the art that I make now and challenge myself to only use bright, vibrant colors. I like a lot of movement in my work. I like a lot of entanglements. I’m trying to be aggressively and obnoxiously joyful.

I eventually made an Instagram page where I could document my textile journey and called it Thread.Core; a throwback to the name of my punk embroidery hustle in college. I wouldn’t say that my journey has been especially easy or hard. I’m fortunate in that I can pick new things up relatively quickly. Additionally, I think my online following grew relatively quickly because I had a lot of great friends backing me up and sharing my stuff (also I went viral on TikTok lol). Honestly I think the most difficult part of my journey as an artist has been trying to narrow down which materials I want to work with, or if I even want to narrow it down at all. I get just as much satisfaction from beading as I do weaving or rug tufting and it can be tricky trying to prioritize project ideas. I’ve found the easiest thing to do for myself is to not force anything and follow where my gut is leading me.

I’m still very much in the beginning stages of my art journey and learning everyday but if I had to give advice to anyone looking into textiles or art in general it would be to learn and make as much as you can without criticizing yourself too much. I’ve found that constantly worrying too much about how things look in the initial project stages can be paralyzing and detrimental to growing as an artist. Mistakes can sometimes turn into happy accidents and if that doesn’t happen then the worst case scenario is that they’re learning moments. Also I cannot stress enough how important it is to build community and seek out mentorship. Those relationships are life changing and so motivating. And you’d be surprised to see how many people are willing to help you when you’re new and eager. I’ve been very fortunate to meet a lot of truly lovely and talented people within the textile world and I’m so much better off because of them.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live in Long Beach, CA. When I originally moved here, I didn’t plan on staying for very long and would obnoxiously tell anyone who’d listen that I was dying to return to NY. It’s now been 4 years and the area is really starting to grow on me. I love living near the water so if I had to play tour guide to a friend we’d be spending a lot of time at the beach or the Colorado Lagoon. If we were to just hang in a park, I think the best view of the city would have to be at Hilltop Park. For food, I’m a huge fan of Louisana Pico Fish & Chicken and El Sauz; they’ve got some of the best catfish and tacos you can find in the area. I’m not much of a drinker so I don’t have bar recommendations but for thrills I like to hang at the many skate parks in the city, one of my faves being Michael K. Green park.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are so many people I’d love to shout out. Everything I’ve accomplished is thanks to the support, love and guidance from the people around me. First and foremost I’d like to shout out my little sister Lauren (nicholimoli on IG) for always inspiring me with her illustration work and her courage to pursue art seriously. I knew I wanted to go to art school but got my degree in Sociology because I was afraid of not being able to “make it” as an artist. Lauren chose to study art in college and her confidence and skill gave me the green light to also go after what I wanted.

I also want to thank my wonderful partner, Jimmy, for supporting me in every way possible over the last 4 years. He gave me my first loom and has always been one of my biggest cheerleaders.

I’ve made so many friends in the online textile community and I wish I could shout them all out. Those relationships mean everything to me. One of the first artists that I came to befriend/be inspired by was Jasmine Nyende (standardized_sext on IG). They are such a talented badass and they made me feel so included when I was first getting started.

Most recently, I’d have to thank Diedrick Brackens and his assistants Adrian and Tristan. I started working as his assistant a little under two months ago and I’ve never been happier. I’ve learned a ton about weaving + textiles from all of them and it’s been so motivating to be around people so passionate about their work.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thread.core/?hl=en

Other: TikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@threadcore?lang=en