About Us
Founded by artist Erin Pollard, Underwater Weaving Studio is rooted in the belief that the woven vessel is a profound anchor in our homes. Growing up in Maine, raised in the orbit of her family’s bustling diner and her mother Peggy’s craft practice, Erin developed a worldview shaped by the lineage of building things by hand.
The 1980s and 90s were a golden era of Maine craftsmanship—a time when Peggy created a basket collection for L.L.Bean, opened a gift store featuring local work, and taught workshops from their home.
Underwater Weaving Studio honors the tactile traditions of the past. Our name references the cultural punchline: "underwater basket weaving," a popular idiom used to dismiss domestic labor and somatic learning as a useless, absurdly easy pursuit. By embracing the joke, we re-offer the hands as a portal for power through the language of the hands.
Today, Underwater Weaving Studio bridges the gap between our inherited past and our modern lives. The work is a dialogue of preservation, drawing on Maine’s rich woven legacies—including the profound history of Wabanaki and Shaker makers—while filtering them through Erin’s background in design and movement. But above all, the studio treats the craft as a retreat. The repetitive, grounding rhythm of weaving offers a physical meditation; an antidote to modern-day ennui.
Here, time-honored technique and contemporary vision coalesce. Guided by a mother’s deep knowledge of material and a daughter’s aesthetic, each basket is crafted as a vessel of intention. They are functional, lyrical objects, but they are also physical testaments to the life-sustaining energy of the gatherer—reminders to slow down, to hold, and to reconnect with what it means to make something real.
