Avery Zou Weaving
Intention
When I was doing my sample weaving, since all my warp was red, I mostly chose the darker colors to match the red warp. All the purple, red and dark green yarns together created an interesting effect on my sample weaving. I did not make that piece very dense, so we can see the red warp inside, which gave the overall weaving an even darker tone. After the experience of combining colors that match the red warp, when I was thinking about the final weaving, I wanted to do something different. Thus I decided to create a strong contrast between those lighter colors and the red background. I chose white, yellow, orange and light green; these colors created a happy and joyful atmosphere. I did not want the overall piece to be very dark or red; instead, I only wanted part of the weaving to be red in order to form the contrast. I also planned to use disorganized netting to divide the entire weaving into several parts.
Process
I used yarns as my main material. I weaved many regular horizontal and vertical lines, as well as those equal spaced “boxes” using the light-colored yarn, since I wanted these parts to be very clean and organized. The repetition of the white, yellow and orange yarns indicated that there was a unified color scheme for this piece. By making the weaving very dense and tight, the red warp cannot be seen through the surface any more. Then I decided to use netting to demonstrate the contrast between the red warp and these light colors. I did the netting in an irregular way, thus the contrast is stronger.
The entire piece was divided into three parts by the red warp. I started from the bottom of the picture and weaved my way up. In each part I tried to focus on one specific technique. For instance, in the bottom part I did two lines of little “boxes”; in the middle part I tried to make some vertical lines combining with horizontal ones. In the top part, I made an arrow-like pattern using interlocking. I wanted the three part to be distinct but combined together by the similar color scheme, while being disrupted by the red warp.
Learning
By making this weaving piece, I not only learned how to actually build a loom and various weaving skills, but also how to design a piece to express my own feelings and ideas. I also found it very interesting that each person has a unique interpretation on one weaving sample, which shows the value of independent thinking. I really like others’ opinions and understandings of my final weaving; some of them described it as “childish and happy” while some thought it depicted “erosion”. I did want to create a strong contrast between the lighter colors and the dark red warp, organized repeated patterns and chaotic netting, but I did not really think it as an erosion. The discussion and share of ideas show me lots of possibilities of this weaving. Next time I may try to use the weaving to convey some ideas, as well as try to apply more techniques. I would like to try the combination of different kinds of materials, too. I will also start it earlier.
