Thoughts on weaving
Weaving begins with looking. I seek out irregular patterns and color play in architecture, furniture, textiles, clothing. My work is informed by interrupted fenestration patterns, repurposed fresco walls, bamboo fences, stacked storage units, all manner of fabric constructions – whatever generates offset grids.
I have long admired African kente cloths for their beauty and directness, simplicity and playfulness. Each vertical strip is divided by horizontal stripes, stitched together to create the cloth. These stripes create patterns of connection or interruption with inexact repetitions –clear evidence of their maker’s hand.
In these I see a direct analogy between textile and text – the construction of fabric and the process of writing. Both have methodical underpinnings – a structure that provides the framework for development. Woven strips are akin to written sentences: both can be rearranged to re-contextualize, to forge relationships, to develop meaning.
In my weaving, I incorporate a repeating rhythm of cord wefts. These visually subdivide while physically tying to create the whole. These cords form the scaffold for the tapestry while producing a second, complicating scrim. The two systems are mutually supportive, yet generate visual conflict.
Through color and weave I create rhythms which coalesce or splinter, calling across the field to engage with each other. This woven language is not code – it does not refer to specific thoughts. Through abstraction I find freedom for interpretation, and discovery.
Notebook 2017. 87 x 36”. woven: linen & cotton cord